Ashcroft

Overview

The camp that briefly outgrew Aspen

In the spring of 1880 two Leadville prospectors, Charles Culver and W. F. Coxhead, found silver in the upper Castle Creek Valley. Twenty-three more prospectors soon joined them, and within two weeks they had formed a Miners' Protective Association, built a courthouse and laid out streets. The camp was first called Castle Forks City. Its post office opened as Ashcroft that August.

For a few years Ashcroft was larger than Aspen and closer to the railroad at Crested Butte. Wikipedia puts the 1883 population near 2,000, and some accounts go as high as 3,500 by 1885. The ore was shallow, though, and the rich strikes of 1884 were at Aspen. People left fast, some of them hauling their cabins along. By 1912 fewer than 50 remained, and the post office closed that November.

Ashcroft later served as part of a ski venture, a 10th Mountain Division training ground and a TV set. Stuart Mace, who ran sled dogs from the lodge across the road, looked after it from 1948. Since 1974 the Aspen Historical Society has managed the townsite under a Forest Service permit, and it went on the National Register in 1975.

Video

Ashcroft in 30 seconds

An 1880 silver camp that for a few years was bigger than Aspen: Castle Creek, a false-front building, an empty log interior and the townsite the Aspen Historical Society looks after today.

Timeline

Boom, bust and a long afterlife

1. Spring 1880Charles B. Culver and W. F. Coxhead come over from Leadville and find silver in the upper Castle Creek Valley. The camp is called Castle Forks City.
2. 1880Twenty-three more prospectors join them. A Miners' Protective Association builds a courthouse and lays out streets.
3. Aug 12, 1880The Ashcroft post office opens.
4. 1881–1882The post office is called Chloride from August 1881 until January 1882, then Ashcroft again.
5. 1883By Wikipedia's account the town reaches about 2,000 people, with two newspapers, a school, sawmills, a small smelter and many saloons. H.A.W. Tabor, part owner of nearby mines, is said to visit.
6. 1883–1885The ore proves shallow. Residents start moving to Aspen by 1883, some taking their cabins, and a rich strike there in 1884 draws more away.
7. 1912Fewer than 50 residents remain. The post office closes in November.
8. 1936The Highland Bavarian Lodge, the area's first ski venture, takes in Ashcroft.
9. 1942The Army's 10th Mountain Division trains near Ashcroft.
10. 1948Stuart Mace builds Toklat Lodge across the road and runs a sled-dog operation. His family looks after the townsite.
11. 1955–1958Ashcroft gets false fronts as a set for the TV series Sgt. Preston of the Yukon.
12. 1974The Forest Service lets the Aspen Historical Society manage the site.
13. May 12, 1975Ashcroft is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

What's left

What you'll see

A path leads through the meadow past log buildings, some on their original sites and some moved here and restored. Shrubs mark old foundations. Signs explain the town, and docents are on hand in summer. The post office is an original building on its original site, but the historical society notes it isn't the first post office. As the town shrank, the post office moved into this smaller building.

The 1893 sheet below shows a cluster of buildings on Castle Creek. The 1909 and 1911 sheets add the Montezuma Mine up the valley to the southwest and a road up Express Creek toward Taylor Pass. The 1960 sheet marks Toklat Lodge just north of the townsite.

• Post office
• Restored and relocated log buildings
• Foundation sites
• Interpretive signs
• Gift shop (summer)

Historic maps

Ashcroft on USGS maps, 1893–1983

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18931:62,50019091:125,00019111:125,00019601:24,00019831:100,000

Day trip

Plan a day trip to Ashcroft from Aspen

Take it with you

Day trip itinerary

The essentials, the sample day with boxes to tick, what to photograph and the coordinates, on two printable pages. Handy where there's no signal.

Download the PDF (567 KB)

Ashcroft is about half an hour from Aspen and an easy morning. In summer a docent is on hand and the gift shop is open. Bring food and water from town; we found no food service at the townsite itself.

A sample day

1. MorningDrive out of Aspen to the roundabout and up Castle Creek Road, about half an hour.
2. Late morningPay at the honor box, then walk the meadow trails: the post office, the log buildings and the interpretive signs.
3. MiddayIn summer, talk to the docent and visit the gift shop. Join a guided tour if one is scheduled.
4. AfternoonBack down to Aspen. The historical society's Wheeler/Stallard Museum and Holden/Marolt museum cover the rest of the valley's story.

What to photograph and film

• The meadow panorama. Step back across the meadow to fit the buildings against the mountains, as in the 2017 panorama in the gallery.
• The "Slow Ghosts Ahead" sign. It stands beside Castle Creek Road at the townsite.
• Log corners. The cabins show their notched log construction up close.
• Drones. The site is national forest land under a permit. The historical society's page doesn't cover drones, so ask before flying.

Map & directions

Getting there

Aspen is the place to start. Castle Creek Road leaves the roundabout at the west entrance to Aspen and climbs 11 miles up the valley to the townsite. From Denver, the route runs west on I-70 to Glenwood Springs and up Highway 82 to the same roundabout.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Ashcroft in photos

The townsite in its meadow, 2017Ashcroft in snow, September 1941Looking out from a log building, 2017The "Slow Ghosts Ahead" sign, 2017Inside a log building, 2017Log buildings in fall, 2007A two-story false-front building, 1983Castle Creek, with a false-front building beyond, 1977

Visitor reports

Been to Ashcroft?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Ashcroft

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Colorado index.

• Aspen10.0 mi N · Pitkin
• Independence11.0 mi E · Pitkin
• Gothic12.1 mi SW · Gunnison
• Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory12.1 mi SW · Gunnison
• Lenado13.2 mi N · Pitkin
• Pittsburg15.7 mi SW · Gunnison
• Crested Butte15.8 mi SW · Gunnison
• Crystal16.2 mi W · Gunnison

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Aspen Historical Society, "Ashcroft Ghost Town", read October 2026: location, hours, admission, dogs, gift shop, trails and signs, Forest Service permit, the 1880 discovery, the move to Aspen, the 1912 population, the ski lodge, the 10th Mountain Division, Stuart Mace, the post office building.
2. Aspen Historical Society, "Tours", read October 2026: year-round self-guided access, summer docents, the 1.5-hour guided tour from the welcome cabin.
3. Wikipedia, "Ashcroft, Colorado", retrieved October 2026: post office dates and names (it gives both November 20 and November 30, 1912, for the closing), population figures, Tabor, the 1884 Aspen strike, the TV series, the 1975 National Register listing.
4. USDA Forest Service, "Ashcroft Nordic Ski Area" (last updated December 16, 2025): the winter gate 11 miles up Castle Creek Road, groomed trails, the Pine Creek Cookhouse, no restrooms or drinking water.
5. ghosttowns.com, "Ashcroft": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time, remains).
6. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The townsite in its meadow, 2017: Lorie Shaull from Washington, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• Ashcroft in snow, September 1941: Marion Post Wolcott, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Looking out from a log building, 2017: Lorie Shaull from Washington, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The "Slow Ghosts Ahead" sign, 2017: Lorie Shaull from Washington, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• Inside a log building, 2017: Lorie Shaull from Washington, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• Log buildings in fall, 2007: John Holm from Leadville, CO, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• A two-story false-front building, 1983: rjones0856, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Castle Creek, with a false-front building beyond, 1977: Robert W. McLeod, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Aspen 1893, 1:62,500; Mount Jackson 1909, 1:125,000; Mount Jackson 1911, 1:125,000; Hayden Peak 1960, 1:24,000; Leadville 1983, 1:100,000.