Carbondale to McClure Pass and Marble-Carbondale Road

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Carbondale, CO, US

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Route Overview

We Ride 4

Nonprofit addressing child obesity and healthy lifestyles by getting more kids riding bikes

63 mi.

3,569 ft.

This route showcases the beauty of the Crystal River Valley. It winds its way through the valley from downtown Carbondale past Redstone to the top of McClure Pass and into the historic town of Marble.

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Route Details

This ride starts and ends on Main St in downtown Carbondale. [https://www.carbondale.com/about/history/](http://www.carbondale.com/about/history/)

When you are finished with your ride, there are a good number of places to grab some food and drink. Our personal favorite is the @photo[Marble Distilling Company & Distillery Inn](15847693). The owners Cary Shanks and Connie Baker have built a one of a kind distillery with creatively crafted spirits with a committment to sustainable business practices. Plan ahead and reserve a room at the Inn. They have 5 rooms and a suite that will give you an upscale experience at a very  reasonable price. We've stayed at the Inn several times and walked down into the distillery tasting room. These guys make everyone feel like friends they've known forever.

From Main St in downtown Carbondale, the route takes you out of town through quiet streets eventually dropping you onto CO 133. The route follows CO 133 starting at 6,200 ft for a little over 24 miles to the top of @point[McClure Pass](d,39858.2) at @photo[8,755ft](15840075). The grade for the first 21 miles is relatively gentle and will allow you to enjoy the scenery (Averaging 2%). The last 3 miles turn it up a little and you will see grades in the higher single digits (6-9%) with regular intervals of 10-12%. Along the way you will pass several areas of notable interest:

* Mile 16-@poi[Redstone Coke Oven Historic District](128458427)
* Mile 16-@point[The town of Redstone](d,75028.99)
* Mile 18-@poi[Hays Falls](128458769)
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After snapping a few photos at the top of the pass, turn around and head back downhill. After the first 3 miles of descending, turn right at the @photo[sign for the town of Marble.](15840070) Follow the route for 6.5 miles into the town of Marble all the way to where the paved road ends at @poi[Beaver Lake](128458603). Along the way you will pass several areas of notable interest:
* Mile 35-@poi[Historic Marble Jailhouse](128458604) (See below)
* Mile 35.5-@poi[Marble Community Church](128473035) (See below)
* Mile 34.2-Turn down W 3rd St-@poi[Marble Mill Site Park](128545900)
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There are several places to grab water, food and restrooms while you're in Marble

* Mile 34-@poi[The Marble Hub](128458602) and @poi[Slow Groovin BBQ](128458426)
* Mile 36-@poi[Raspberry Ridge Cafe](128458425)
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Follow the route back out to CO133, turn right and start heading back to Carbondale again. The remaining 18.5 miles is almost all downhill (Really!). On the descent, the route takes a slight detour into the historic town of Redstone (See below). Stop by the @poi[Redstone Inn](128458771) and @poi[The Redstone Castle](128458770) for some photos. Then stop at the @poi[General Store](128458772) to fill water bottles before finishing the rest of the route back into Carbondale.

**The Town of Redstone** was established in the late 19th century by industrialist John Cleveland Osgood as part of a coal mining enterprise. Osgood's coal empire also spurred construction of the Crystal River Railroad and Redstone's historic dwellings. As an experiment in "enlightened industrial paternalism," Osgood constructed 84 cottages and a 40-room inn, all with indoor plumbing and electricity, for his coal miners and cokers, as well as modern bathhouse facilities, a club house with a library and a theatre, and a school. Most of these Craftsman-era Swiss-style cottages are still used as homes.

**Redstone Castle** is an opulent 42-room Tudor-style mansion that Osgood built for his second wife, Swedish Countess Alma Regina Shelgrem. Construction of Cleveholm Manor, which was designed by New York architects Boal and Harnois, began in 1897 and was completed in 1901.

**Redstone Coke Oven Historic District** is important for its association with the development of the coal mining and processing industry in Colorado. The ovens were constructed by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in 1899, during a period of expansion in the processing of coking coal brought about by the increased demand from the region’s smelting industry.  The Redstone ovens are also an important engineering resource, representing a type of industrial structure no longer in use and rapidly disappearing from the West.

**McClure Pass** is located along the boundary between Pitkin and Gunnison counties, in a gap at the western side of the Elk Mountains. The pass is at an elevation of 8,755 feet (2,669 m)) and separates the headwaters of the Crystal River (a tributary of the Roaring Fork River) to the east with the headwaters of the North Fork Gunnison River to the west. The pass is named in honor of Thomas "Mack" McClure who in the late 19th Century owned a large house at the eastern base of the pass. The house served as a stage stop where McClure fed and lodged travelers.

**The Town of Marble** was founded in 1881 as part of the effort to quarry the extensive marble deposits of the Yule Creek area in Gunnison County.  The town developed into a transportation and processing hub for the local marble industry. By the early 20th century, the area was one of the most significant marble quarrying regions in the country.  Marble quarried there was used in hundreds of landmark buildings, structures and monuments throughout the nation, including the Lincoln Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Washington Monument.

**The Marble Community Church-St Paul's Church** Originally known as St. John’s Episcopal Chapel, the church was built in Aspen in 1886 by the Episcopal Missions of Western Colorado.  In 1908, it was relocated to Marble and was renamed St. Paul’s Church.  Two rooms were added to the rear of the building, and a belfry was added in 1911.  The church is Marble’s only example of Gothic architecture and is an example of early religious structures of late 19th century mining communities in Colorado.

**The Marble Jailhouse** was built on East State Street in 1901, as local officials tried to impose order on the growing town and its increasingly diverse working class. The one-room jailhouse, which contains two steel-framed jail cells, was most active after Marble passed a local prohibition law in 1908. Use of the jail declined as Marble itself declined after the 1920s, and today the jailhouse is one of the few historic buildings to have survived the town’s many fires and floods.

**Marble Mill Site Park** is a 25 acre historic site that is now a park with large marble pillars and remains of the old Marble mill. The plant consisted of departments for sawing, polishing, and carving.  Most of the facility was constructed of marble.  The mill survived a series of disasters, including a snow slide in 1912 and a fire in 1925.

Carbondale to McClure Pass and Marble-Carbondale Road

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