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The Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Sherman to Burrows Park

Alpine Loop Scenic Byway

Past the Sherman turn-off, road maintenance obviously fell off a bit. The road headed up hill and hugged the cliff for a couple miles. About mid-way there's a 90° turn with an overlook and the Sherman townsite interpretive signage. The view is well worth the stop. This area where the road hugs the cliff: it's quite narrow and windy. This is also the area where I probably came across the most traffic going the other way (of course). After a couple miles, the road and the streambed came back together again (sort of) and opened out into a nice valley. There were some good turnouts, some with campfire rings already in place, and some excellent views. The stream itself was between 50 and 100 feet to the south in the bottom of a vertical cut in solid rock. Slowly though, as I went further west, the stream worked its way back up and I found lots of places (lots of beaver ponds) where the fishing should have been very good, and very easy to get at.

There are some spots where the road is a bit rocky but nothing heavy gear. The potholes though will keep anyone from trying to fly through here...

The views had me so entranced that I didn't realize I was in Burrows Park until I came up on the pit toilets, trailheads, parked vehicles and tents. There was trail here heading north and climbing Redcloud and Sunshine Peaks. Another trail went south and up onto Handies Peak. It was just past here that I came across an eroded trench in the road and decided that was a logical place to turn around and head back out so I'd get home that night at a reasonable hour. But next year...

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Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
An unnamed point above Cataract Gulch
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Cataract Gulch
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
The view ahead
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
A bit further on, looking ahead
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Above Burrows Park
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
West of Burrows Park
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
North of Burrows Park
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Northeast of Burrows Park
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Looking north, east end of Burrows Park
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Looking east at the east end of Burrows Park
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Whitecross Mountain
Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Cinnamon Pass is up there, somewhere
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Sangres.com