Not just Remote - Most *DIFFICULT* Towns to Reach (Delta: spring break, live)

[GiddeeeUp]

What do my fellow Coloradoans know about this curiosity:

What town still exists that is not simply remote--as forum threads already exist to address; "remote" is some place you must drive forever to reach, cannot fly into, etc.

But difficult to reach: e.g. you might have to take a Four Wheeler, then hike a while, walk a tightrope, scale a wall...

Yet served by a Post Office with deliveries, yet not by internet--perhaps not even by phone or fax.

i.e. what place people can legally live and work, **REALLY** imposes enough difficulty to dissuade in-comers, but not inhabitants who like remoteness and isolation, quiet and disconnection?

[vegaspilgrim]

Silverton comes to mind as possibly the most difficult mountain town to get to in Colorado-- particularly during the winter.

[bluescreen73]

Crystal is a fairly remote ghost town inhabited by a few people during the summer. From Gunnison you get there on a 4x4 shelf road, and from Crested Butte it's a very dicey drive through the Devils Punchbowl and over Schofield Pass.

[Colorado^]

Most difficult to reach? That would be Breckenridge on a Friday night, during spring break.

[Colorado Rambler]

^^^

LOL! Good one!

My vote goes to Nucla. You either have to drive from Delta on iffy dirt roads (4wd recommended) across the Uncomphaghre Plateau to get there (that's the short-cut) or else follow highway 145 from Ridgeway and keep going past the turn-off for Telluride. The stretch between that turn-off and Norwood follows some pretty steep grades at times along with a few hair pin curves with the best saved for last - Norwood Hill where 145 climbs perilously out of the San Miguel Canyon. There's no guardrails and it's a hell of a long way down to the bottom of that canyon. Every time I've driven that stretch, I've always thought that it's the perfect place to end it all, should someone - hopefully not - be so inclined. All you'd need to do is gun your motor at the top of Norwood Hill and keep going straight instead of turning with the first curve, and it would be a perfect Thelma and Louise finish. 145 tames down a little between Norwood and Naturita, but the crowds of suicidal deer that seem to be awaiting the unwary driver round every turn kind of make up for that. At Naturita you take the right turn for the road that leads to Nucla and that also goes past the Tri-State power plant - a monster belching smoke at the bottom of a steep incline which you must descend down, much like a descent into hell, with a huge coal truck behind schedule always right on top of you in the rear view. Past Tri-State, the road climbs again and ta-dah! You are in Nucla, population 1,500. The mail seems to get there OK, but cell phone service can be dicey. Nucla does have Internet, however. It's not too bad to drive there in the summer (especially if you are familiar with the roads), but winter can make a trip to Nucla pure hell.

My other vote goes to Uravan.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

crystal is a fairly remote ghost town inhabited by a few people during the summer. From gunnison you get there on a 4x4 shelf road, and from crested butte it's a very dicey drive through the devils punchbowl and over schofield pass.

+1

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by skydog77

+1

+2

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Silverton comes to mind as possibly the most difficult mountain town to get to in Colorado-- particularly during the winter.

Vegaspilgrim is right. During winter season U.S. 550 has had a lot of temporary closures over the years due to the winter conditions. During the summer not so much but during summer monsoon season there's been a rock slide or two or three that would shut down traffic. Nothing like the one that we experienced in Glenwood Canyon these past couple weeks though.

[jim9251]

Ophir.

[Mike from back east]

The OP didn't state that this town is in COLO, so my vote goes to the Native American village that is actually down inside the Grand Canyon in AZ. If you fly into there, you only fly in once. It gets daily U.S. Post Office service, and even UPS hands off its packages to the postal service for that so-called "final mile" of delivery.