The Bachelor Loop is a self-guided drive through Creede's ghost towns

Above Creede, the hills are full of the silver district’s history, and the Bachelor Loop is the easiest way to read it. It is a self-guided driving tour, roughly 17 miles, that climbs out of town on a forest road and comes back down the other side. Along the way, numbered pullouts mark old mine sites, mill ruins, and the remains of camps that boomed and then emptied.

The loop is named for Bachelor, a town that grew as a neighbor to Creede in the 1890s and faded when the silver economy fell. You also pass landmarks like the Commodore mine. There are about 14 interpretive stops, and the Creede visitor center sells a guide that explains what you are looking at at each one.

This is not a smooth, paved circle. The Forest Service recommends a high-clearance vehicle, since the east side has steep, rocky, narrow sections where uphill traffic has the right of way. The road is open seasonally and closes when the snow arrives. Drivers in regular cars sometimes do part of the loop in reverse to avoid the worst grades.

If you want to understand why Creede sits where it does, the Rio Grande National Forest’s Bachelor Loop page describes the route, the stops, and the kind of vehicle it really takes.