Henson Creek

Lake City is a statutory town that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Hinsdale County, Colorado, United States. The population was 432 at the 2020 census. It is located in the San Juan Mountains in a valley formed by the convergence of Henson Creek and the headwaters of the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River about seven miles (11 km) east of Uncompahgre Peak, a Colorado fourteener. Lake City is named after nearby Lake San Cristobal. This area lies at the southern end of the Colorado Mineral Belt and when rich mineral deposits were discovered the native population was pushed from their tribal lands and the town of Lake City was incorporated in 1873. With the completion of the first road into the mountains in this region, Lake City served as a supply center for the many miners and prospectors flooding into the area. As a supply center, the town boomed to as many as 3,000 to 5,000 settlers. But as the first-discovered deposits were found to be only moderately productive and no new extensive or rich deposits of minerals were found, by 1879 the boom had subsided. With the arrival of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1889, Lake City saw a second upturn in the economy that lasted into the 1890s. The railroad cut the cost of shipping gold and silver ores to smelters, reduced the cost of shipping supplies into Lake City, and provided shipment of cattle and sheep into the area for summer grazing in the high Alpine meadows. By 1905, the mining era was over and Lake City entered a decades-long period of economic decline. Population figures hovered at 1,000 then dropped to 400 after 1910. Although mining continued throughout the twentieth century, it consisted primarily of exploration and speculation rather than productive operation. Beginning in 1915, visitors began coming to Lake City for the entire summer season and by the 1930s tourism had emerged as a viable industry. The Hinsdale County Historical Society formed in 1973 and began accumulating documents and photographs recording the town's history. In 1978, the Lake City Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Residents have restored many of the boom town mining era buildings and currently promote tourism as an industry. Restoration has not only aided the local economy by making Lake City a desirable tourist destination, it has served economic development with preservation projects creating jobs for local carpenters, craftsmen, and contractors. Lake City's educational needs are served by the Lake City Community School.

Lake City Community School is a school in Lake City, Hinsdale County, Colorado, United States. It provides Pre-K to 12th grade education for approximately 100 students. It is part of the Hinsdale County School District, and is the only school in RE-1. This school hosts soccer games against Gunnison and Crested Butte. U-12 and U13 soccer teams consist only of Pre-K through 7th grade. The school hosts ACT and CSAP tests. It also offers Advanced Placement Program classes.

The Golden Fleece Mine is a gold mining site in Hinsdale County, Colorado, 5 miles (8 km) south of Lake City. The mine is located half a mile west of the north end of Lake San Cristobal. By 1904 it had produced $1,400,000 in silver and gold ore. The mine operated intermittently until 1919. Later, in the mid-1960s, some renewed interest in the property came up, especially in the Hiwassee lode area of the mine, but other than a couple of small test shipments, there is no recorded production until today. The Golden Fleece Mine had much impact on the development of the whole area around Lake City. A description of the mine, with special emphasis on geological features, including photos and a profile map of the mine, was published by Thomas Arthur Rickard (Thomas Rickard was his cousin). The Golden Fleece mine is also known for an unusual mineral, named hinsdalite (PbAl3(PO4)(SO4)(OH)6), which is a secondary phosphate mineral.

Lake San Cristobal is a lake in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in the San Juan Mountains at an elevation of 9,003 feet (2,744 m), the freshwater lake is 2.1 miles (3.4 km) long, up to 89 feet (27 m) deep, has a surface area of 0.52 square miles (1.3 km2), and holds about 11,000 acre-feet (14,000,000 m3) of water. The town of Lake City, a few miles to the north, is named after Lake San Cristobal. The name San Cristóbal means Saint Christopher in the Spanish language. Many old silver mines are near the lake and it is very clean and well kept, and stocked with Rainbow Trout.

Henson is a ghost town in Hinsdale County, Colorado, United States. Its elevation is 9,236 feet (2,815 m). Henson's name has historically been spelled several different ways, including Hansen, Hanson, Hensen, and Honsen; the Board on Geographic Names officially supported the current spelling in 1896. Henson was named for Henson Creek, which was named for a pioneer settler. The Henson post office operated from May 17, 1883, until November 30, 1913.Henson is the site of the Ute-Ulay Mine, now abandoned.

The Slumgullion Earthflow is a remnant of a landslide in the San Juan Mountains in Hinsdale County, Colorado. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1983. It is also a Colorado Natural Area and an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.The earthflow, a slow-moving landslide, crawled down the valley about 700 years ago creating the 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 2,000 feet (610 m) wide mass. The earthflow lies a few miles southeast of Lake City. The landmark site covers 1,291 acres (522 ha) and is owned and managed by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. It is "a striking example of mass wasting (the movement of large masses of earth material)." The Lake Fork of the Gunnison River was dammed by the earthflow, creating Lake San Cristobal. A second earthflow has been moving continuously for about 300 years over older stable rock. It moves at a rate of about 7 meters (23 feet) per year.The area is a habitat for elk and deer. It is crossed by Colorado Highway 149, the principal highway of the area connecting Lake City with Creede.

Slumgullion Pass (elevation 11,530 ft (3,514 m)) is a mountain pass in southwestern Colorado traversed by State Highway 149 east of Lake City. The north side has the steepest grade of any continuously paved road in Colorado (9%), but the pass does not close often in winter because snowplows clear the route regularly during this season. It has a few switchbacks and tight spots, but other than that, most travelers will find it an easy, scenic route. Technically speaking, the current highway does not traverse the true Slumgullion Pass, which lies just off the highway on the ridge between Cebolla Creek and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, at an elevation of about 11,300 ft (3,400 m). As a result of a realignment several decades ago (evident by comparing USGS topographic maps of different vintages), the road now takes a shorter but somewhat higher route as it travels east and south from this spot toward Spring Creek Pass. The road sign at the high point refers to Slumgullion Summit rather than Slumgullion Pass in order to reflect this. This is analogous to the usage of the terms Donner Summit and Cajon Summit in California. However, in all three cases, the more familiar but slightly inaccurate name is routinely used.

Cannibal Plateau is a summit in Hinsdale County, Colorado in the United States. The broad 12,533-foot (3,820 m) mountain is located in the San Juan Mountains and within the Powderhorn Wilderness, a protected area managed by the Bureau of Land Management Gunnison Field Office and the Gunnison National Forest.Cannibal Plateau was named after an incident of cannibalism by Alferd Packer. The massacre site is near Lake City, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of the plateau.

Calf Creek Plateau is a mountain in the northern San Juan Mountains of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The mountain is located in Hinsdale County, and at an elevation of 12,661 feet (3,859 m), it is the high point of the Powderhorn Wilderness.

The Powderhorn Wilderness is a 62,050-acre (251.1 km2) wilderness area in Hinsdale and Gunnison counties, Colorado, United States, located 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Lake City.