Carbon Mountain is one of Durango’s neighborhood prominences, but it is rarely visited.
Located just west of the Animas River and southwest of Bodo Industrial Park, the area features the Purple Cliffs, playful sandstone escarpments, a historic landslide, a mountaintop view of Lake Nighthorse, and even an old county landfill. A traverse of the mountain begins from the unique Solar Slab off La Posta Road and finishes on the standard route rising from the end of Sawyer Drive.
Carbon Mountain is within the 2,923-acre Bodo State Wildlife Area (SWA). The land was purchased by the state from Archie Bodo. It is closed to protect wildlife habitat from Dec. 1 through April 15. Posted, dogs must be on leash. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has expressed concern about nesting raptors in the area and the formation of any new social trails.
The hike depicted is a steep and brushy off-trail option which observes some of the interesting features of the mountain, but hikers must treat the area as sensitive. The descent route described here should be the preferred choice for summit seekers.
From the turnout on La Posta Road, walk up the road briefly and turn west into a minor drainage to access the Solar Slab.
Comprised of Farmington Sandstone, the Solar Slab is a pale olive color with abundant quartz, feldspar and mica. The Slab is a bedding plane that was tilted up at a high angle upon ramming into the San Juan Mountains. There are plenty of features in the rock to enhance your grip but you will want sticky soles and a modicum of courage for this friction pitch.
Clean sandstone transitions onto a equally steep dirt slope. Bearing northeast, pick a good line weaving around boulders, piñon and juniper, intersecting the east ridge. The high-angle climb does not let up but it is ameliorated with a full spectrum valley-to-mountain vista.
The Purple Cliffs rise directly above La Posta Road and stand out because of their eponymous color. You may skip this out-and-back; otherwise, contour south to the pleasant ridgeline that leads to the visible highpoint.
John Bregar, geologist, explained that the Purple Cliffs are Late Cretaceous McDermott Formation which is distinguished by its maroon to purple color. Some geologists attribute the color to manganese. Rock fragments, or clasts, ranging from pebbles to boulders are mostly igneous material, perhaps originating in volcanoes associated with the formation of the La Plata Mountain laccolith. The lowest massive portion of the McDermott Formation at the Purple Cliffs appears to be a volcanic debris flow that is now interposed between tilted sedimentary layers.
Rejoining the east ridge, climb another steep 250 feet to reach my favorite feature of this hike. Walk on top of sandstone rimrock. The cliffrock façade was once favored by Durango’s bouldering community, but there is no climber’s trail and once evident chalk marks have faded away. The Solar Slab was the original climber’s route to this feature.
At Point 7,561 the ridge makes an abrupt turn to the north. There are two, fun little scrambles between the prominence and saddle. The point is protected by a rocky outcrop. Find a way off to the west and curl back under the cliffrock. Stay on the ridgecrest while down-climbing through a second cluster of boulders.
Pass above the Durango Gun Club and then plow through a thick patch of oakbrush (long pants recommended).
At 2.2 miles, the ridge makes a 90 degree bend to the west. At this apex, you are standing on top of Moving Mountain! As detailed by geologist Paul Oldaker and articles published in The Durango Herald, one June night in 1932, Durango was shaken awake by a raucous and mysterious explosion. Six months later, a second blast deep underground rocked the town. Carbon Mountain, then three miles out in the country, was on the move and millions of tons of debris encroached on the Animas River. Boulders were hurled across the river, trees snapped. Fearful that the Animas would be dammed by the on-coming slide, Second and Third Avenue bootleggers moved their supply of hooch out of cellars while plans were made to tunnel the river.
The landslide was 100-feet deep, a quarter-mile wide, and extended over a mile down the eastward slope. “Colorado’s Runaway Mountain” became a tourist attraction. A hotdog stand near the base of the mountain was established for hungry visitors returning from a climb over the slide area.
Leave the scarp and walk west on a sweet rock rib. Bash through oak scrub on a loose and precipitous slope before turning uphill on the north ridge social trail. As the path tops out and disappears you will come to an old road. Note this location carefully for your return trip. A cairn marks a path to the right leading to the summit. Mountain lion tracks were imprinted in the mud here on my recent hike.
A survey marker is located on the summit. Carbon Mountain is Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, the same formation as the Pautsky Point ridge but the Animas River takes a big chunk out of this tilted uplift. The peak overlooks Basin Mountain, Lake Nighthorse, the La Plata range, Smelter Mountain, and Durango.
The peculiarly unnatural sight just north of County Road 210 on the south skirts of Smelter Mountain is the 120-acre Bodo Canyon Disposal site. Managed by the U.S. Department of Energy, it contains former tailings generated in the 1940’s through the 1960’s from uranium ore milling for national defense programs. The disposal cell encapsulates and isolates 2½ million cubic yards of uranium contaminated materials and is surrounded by a rock apron. The decommissioned processing site is now Durango Dog Park.
Walk west along the jutting edge where the daring have the most fun.
The north ridge social trail is 0.15 mile east of the summit. Peg this steep and direct path before heading down. When the trail disappears, stay on the north ridge until it curves around to the east, dropping into the valley just before the gate.
The valley is comprised of Lewis Shale. This dark grey to black formation is up to 600 meters thick in the Durango area and is also found in Horse Gulch. Why is the appealing-looking valley so weirdly lumpy? It was once the county landfill, a free and open dumpsite where you could toss anything you wanted. It was operational from the end of World War II until the mid-1970’s when Bodo Industrial Park was approved and constructed.
Squeeze through the metal gate that posts the official rules for Bodo State Wildlife Area. The refuge is patrolled by wildlife officers so be in compliance.
Naturalist John Bregar, the guidebook you don’t have to carry, identified these flowering plants in May, 2016: double bladder pod, mountain mahogany, bitterbrush, squaw apple, serviceberry, cliff Fendlerbush, skyrocket gilia, Easter daisy, primrose, lupine, rock cress, phlox longifolia, fleabane daisy, and orange globe mallow.
A serious amateur ornithologist, John identified the following birds: orange oreol, violet-green swallow, turkey vulture, white-throated swift, rock wren, raven, Cooper’s hawk, plumbeous vireo, yellow-rumped warbler, bald eagle, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, pinon jay, spotted towhee, house finch, scrub-jay, Bewick’s wren, vesper sparrow, western kingbird, and sagebrush sparrow.
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Trail basics
Travel:
From U.S. Highways 160/550, turn west at the Sawyer Drive signal and go up the hill. The road ends in 0.4 mile at a green, steel gate. Park here for the standard route; parking is limited. For the traverse, drop a shuttle vehicle or a bicycle. Drive to the bottom of the hill and turn right on the frontage road which transitions to La Posta Road. Go past the scary stop sign at Turner Drive and turn right onto La Plata County Road 213. Park in a small pullout below the Solar Slab, 0.7 mile down La Posta Road.
Distance and Elevation Gain:
5.0 miles and 2,200 feet of climbing for the traverse. Round trip for the standard summit climb from the Bodo SWA boundary is 3.0 miles with 1,250 feet of elevation gain.
Time:
3 to 5 hours
Difficulty:
Off-trail; navigation challenging; Class 2+; brushy, wear long pants
Map:
Basin Mountain, Colorado 7.5 Quad
