The Buck Eighty Cache Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A 40 minute drive (11 miles) from Salida on a good but winding mountain gravel road. Cache is a short hike (couple hundred yards) from parking area.
At the north edge of Salida on Hwy 291, turn onto County Road 175 (Ute Trail) directly across from the hospital entrance. Follow CR 175 for 8 miles (Spiral Drive is a nice side trip!) and then bear left (NW) onto County Road 185 (Aspen Ridge) following the sign that says Turret 4 miles. In 2 miles, you will pass the water-filled M&S Quarry and see the turn-off to Turret. You will continue on past, staying on CR 185 for less than a mile to the Calumet Mine area. There is a wide spot in the road where you can park to your left (north side of road). Welcome to the Calumet Camp. You will see remains of some rock buildings along Railroad Gulch. This was where some of the miners stayed that worked at the Colorado Coal & Iron Company's Calumet iron mine across the road to the south and well up on the ridge. This was also the end of the Calumet Branch of the Rio Grande Railroad that ran from Hecla Junction just below Browns Canyon on the Arkansas river, through Box Canyon (150 feet deep and only wide enough in spots for the train!). The engines were reversed on a turn-table just across from the loading docks, located about where you are probably parked. Look for some large granite blocks with bolts in them. Calumet Camp was only active from 1881 until 1901 when a flash flood destroyed the railroad line several miles west in Box Canyon. According to Dick Dixon, in his history of this area, Trails Among the Columbine, Calumet Camp had its own post office and "a log saloon with a reputation for drunkenness, fights, crooked gambling and bad whiskey." We hope you enjoy the area, the history and the cache. We also recommend a side trip to the historic ghost town of Turret with a "short but strenuous hike" to Swinging Rock for another cache with a great view.
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