Mt. Sherman -- Overview
Mount Sherman, at 14,043 feet, is the 45th highest peak in Colorado with a prominence of 850 feet. The mountain has two main attractions, it is one of the easiest 14ers to climb and you pass several abandoned mines during the first half of the hike. Located in the Mosquito Range of central Colorado it is about 2.5 hours from Denver, CO and 1.5 hours from Breckenridge, CO.
The numerous abandoned mines you pass along the first half of the hike produced predominately lead, zinc, and silver.
The peak is also famous for being the only 14er to have a plane land on it. During a violent storm in January of 1967 Jimmy Williamson managed an emergency landing of his Cessna 310 on the peak. He and his passengers were rescued with no injures twenty hours later.
Trailhead at 12,040 ft (3,670 m) | Summit at 14,043 ft (4280 m) |
Total Elevation Gain of 2,020 ft (616 m) | Round Trip Distance of 4.7 mi (7.6 km) |
Round Trip Time of 3 to 5 hrs. | Class One with a few Class Two sections |
The trail classification system used in this blog is the YDS, Yosemite Decimal System
https://www.devilslakeclimbingguides.com/blog/understanding-climbing-ratings
Mt Sherman -- Directions
From Breckenridge drive 22 miles south along CO 9 to the small town of Fairplay. CO 9 merges with US 285 on the north side of Fairplay. From Main Street in Fairplay follow US 285 1.3 miles south until you reach CR18 (4 Mile Creek Road). Turn right on CR 18 and follow the road for 12.6 miles to the trailhead.
The trailhead is at a gate that blocks access for vehicles. If you are in a low clearance 2WD vehicle, you may have to park up to one mile from the trailhead to avoid damaging the undercarriage. We drove our Subaru Outback, without incident, to the trailhead.
Trail Info
This was the last of five 14ers we summited on this trip. We decided the last peak should be one of the easier hikes, therefore, Mount Sherman. This hike starts above timberline and is not the most scenic hike, but the views from the top are nice, if not spectacular. That said, we passed by several abandoned mines, summited our fifth14er and had a wonderful day. Three of us, all over sixty, completed this hike in just over five hours on August 2, 2018.
The Google Earth image below shows the route in green, the dashed yellow line shows the short detour if you want to include Mt. Sheridan.
Marker | Mile | Summit Hike -- Mt. Sherman |
Trailhead | 0.0 | Trailhead is at the closed gate on the access road, follow the road. |
1 | 0.5 | At the junction take the road to the right that trends northerly |
2 | 1.1 | Lot's of options, go in an easterly direction, the road soon trends to the SE. |
3 | 1.2 | Junctions of road and trail, take the trail to the right, heading easterly. |
4 | 1.35 | Trail changes from going SE to northerly, heading up to the summit ridge |
5 | 1.45 | Reached the saddle, go left to Mt Sheridan or go right to Mt. Sherman |
Summit | 2.3 | Mt Sherman summit at 14,043 ft (4280 m) |
Looking NW to Mt Sherman in the distance. The two hikers are following the old mining road and are about one-half mile above the trailhead.
The above photo was taken looking south from Mt. Sherman to nearby Mt. Sheridan. The series of mining roads can be seen in the lower left and the saddle between Mount Sherman and Mount Sheridan is near the center of the photo.
Upon reaching the ridgeline at 13,180 feet, most hikers turn right and follow the ridge north to the summit at 14,036. Going left, at the saddle, takes you south to Mount Sheridan.
If you want to bag a 13er and 14er in one hike, add in Mount Sheridan. For a short 2/3 mile round trip hike with only 600 ft of elevation gain, you get a 13er.
This trail does not see much traffic, so we had just a few other hikers with us on the summit. One offered to take a group shot for us, see above photo. From the summit, Mt Sheridan is 1.4 miles to the south-south-east, Leadville is 6.5 miles to the west-north-west, and the Democrat Group is about 8 miles to the north.
This Democrat Group contains four mountains over 14,000 feet; Mount Democrat, Mount Cameron, Mount Lincoln and Mount Boss. Only three of these are official 14ers. Mount Cameron is not counted, since it is not separated from Mt. Lincoln by a saddle of more than 300 feet. What is great about this group is they can all be done as a single hike, the Decalibron Loop, that is only 7 miles with a modest 3,700 feet of total elevation gain. Parts of this trail, however, are on steep talas and Mount Boss has sometimes been closed to the public since the summit is on private ground. A quick check with the local US Forest Service should provide information on any current access issues. https://www.14ers.com/route.php?route=bros6
Near the end of the hike, following a mining road through some of the larger mine ruins.
Camping
Our campsite at Four Mile Campground was about a 15 minute drive from the trailhead. This is a forest service campground, so fees are required to camp. This campsite had a nice picnic table and a metal fire pit, plus near-by was both a female and male toilet/outhouse.
It’s amazing how happy the simple act of collecting firewood can make a saunterer.
History
Mount Sherman was named in honor of the famous Union general William Tecumseh Sherman.
The first people to inhabit this area were the nomadic Ute people. As in the other mining centers of Colorado, the Ute people were forced out of the Mosquito Range and onto a reservation once the nearby mines started production in the 1860s.
The destruction of the Ute people’s lifestyle, in this area, started with the discovery of placer gold in California Gulch, near the current town of Leadville. The discovery, approximately six miles west of Mount Sherman, occurred on April 26, 1860. Within a few months Leadville’s population reached 10,000 and the discovery became one of Colorado's richest placer gold deposits. The gold mining boom lasted only six years and once depleted the area saw a significant decrease in population. The discovery of silver in the 1870s reinvigorated the town with the Leadville district becoming one the richest and most famous silver districts in the world. The district produced over 700 million dollars worth of silver before the silver boom ended.
The eastern flank of the Mosquito Range also underwent a mining boom in the second half of the 1800s. Today three historic mining towns still exist, Alma, Fairplay and South Park, although the historic town of South Park is now incorporated into Fairplay.
The small mining town of South Park was used by Trey Parker and Matt Stone as the basis for the name of their long running cartoon series, South Park. They also co-produced and wrote the “Book of Mormon, which won nine Tony Awards. Trey Parker was born in Colorado and the two men met while attending college in Colorado.
Today, the Mosquito Range would have relatively few visitors if it was not home to four 14ers; Mt. Sherman, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Boss and Mount Democrat, plus several 13ers, making this range popular with hikers.
Fauna and Flora
The Mosquito Range is in one of the driest and highest areas of Colorado. This means that it is more desert like than most other mountain ranges in the state. Especially in upper parts of the range.
Deer and elk are present on the lower slopes of the range. Yet, you are unlikely to encounter them while hiking Mt. Sherman since the hike is all above tree line. Mountain goats are present in the range, but not a common sight on Mont Sherman.
Since the hike starts at over 12,000 feet, you start your hike in the alpine life zone, above treeline. This zone is cold and windy with a short growing season. Although the flora is diverse, it consists mostly of small shrubs, grasses and some wildflowers. The higher you hike the less flora you will encounter on Mount Sherman.
So, if you want to see a vast variety of plant and animal life you might want to go to another range for hiking. If you want small crowds, a nice campsite, a relatively easy hike and enjoy mine ruins this is an excellent choice for a hike.
Geology
The flanks of the Mosquito Range contains sedimentary layers from Upper Cambrian through Pennsylvanian consisting of a mix of quartzite, shales, sandstone and carbonates. These sedimentary layers were deposited on top of the partially eroded granitic core deposited in the Precambrian. A second granitic intrusion occurred during the Cretaceous and Paleocene. Other minor magmatic intrusions occurred during the Eocene. The minerals mined in the area were sourced from these various intrusive deposits. The mineral deposits, however, usually occur on the flanks of the range in sedimentary layers and placer deposits.
From the Mount Sherman trailhead to about the half way point, you walk on a mix of three different alluvial deposits. The hike starts on alluvium deposited by glacial ice during the middle Pleistocene. At about 12,200 feet this glacial till (alluvium) is overlain by a younger glacial till deposited during the Holocene. At about 12,700 feet, near the beginning of the switchbacks the alluvium transitions to very recent deposits of rock fall from the upper parts of Mount Sherman.
Just before reaching the north-south trending ridge to the summit you are finally walking on the granitic core intruded during the Cretaceous and Paleocene. This core makes up most of Mount Sherman’s mass and from the ridge to the summit you walk on this granitic intrusion.
The nearest large scale mining, near the summit, was the Sherman mine discovered in 1968. The mine is located on the western flank of Mount Sherman at an elevation of 12,680 feet. The mine produced lead-zinc-silver with minor amounts of gold from Early Mississippian dolomites. From 1975 until it closed in 1984 the mine produced 9,100,000 oz of silver.
There are numerous glacial cirques in the upper parts of the range, carved during the Pleistocene. Pleistocene glaciation was more intense in the norther part of the range, so in addition to glacial cirques the northern part contains U shaped glacial carved valleys. Mt. Sherman did not go untouched by the Pleistocene glaciation, one example is the upper west flank which is a massive glacial carved cirque.
The most famous cirque in the range, however, is the Horseshoe mountain cirque. Horseshoe Mountain is also famous for the abounded mine located just below its summit at 13,900 feet, making it one of the highest mines in Colorado. You have great views of this cirque on the drive to the trailhead, see photo above.
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