Lulu City

Overview

A short-lived town near the Colorado River headwaters

Prospector Joe Shipler found silver in the upper Colorado River country in 1879. Investors laid out Lulu City the following year, and by 1881 cabins and businesses occupied the valley. The settlement was named for the daughter of one of its backers.

The ore did not justify the cost of hauling it out of the mountains. Most residents left by 1885, although Shipler stayed much longer. The Park Service acquired the land in 1949. Cabin remnants and traces of buildings now mark a town that lasted only a few years.

Video

Lulu City in 30 seconds

Lulu City was a Colorado silver camp in the mountains. Historic photographs and maps are dated on screen; current access is summarized in the guide.

History

How Lulu City grew and changed

1. 1879Joe Shipler discovers silver in the area.
2. 1880A land company develops the town.
3. 1881Cabins and businesses fill the settlement.
4. 1885The town is largely abandoned as mining proves uneconomic.
5. 1949The National Park Service acquires the property.
6. 1977The Lulu City site enters the National Register.

On the ground

What remains at Lulu City

Cabin ruins and low building remnants survive in the valley. The Colorado River and meadow setting explain the settlement’s position, but this is an archaeological site rather than a restored streetscape. Leave logs, stonework and artifacts undisturbed.

Before you go

Access and current conditions

This is a hike from the Colorado River Trailhead, not a drive to the town coordinates. The NPS trailhead page gives 3.7 miles to Lulu City, while another park trail listing gives a different figure; confirm the route with the park before setting out. Trail Ridge Road is seasonal, and current road and trail conditions determine whether the trailhead and hike are usable.

Reading the maps

The town in its landscape

The 1958 sheet labels the Lulu City site along the Colorado River. Later regional sheets show its position below the Never Summer Mountains.

Historic maps

Lulu City on USGS maps, 1915–1984

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.

19151:125,00019581:24,00019611:250,00019841:100,000

Maps & access

Location and access

This is a hike from the Colorado River Trailhead, not a drive to the town coordinates. The NPS trailhead page gives 3.7 miles to Lulu City, while another park trail listing gives a different figure; confirm the route with the park before setting out. Trail Ridge Road is seasonal, and current road and trail conditions determine whether the trailhead and hike are usable.

Photos

Lulu City in photos

Open ground and forest at the Lulu City site, September 2011A meadow at Lulu City with the mountains beyond, September 2010Log walls remaining at a former building site, September 2010

Visitor reports

Been to Lulu City?

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.

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Nearby

Other sites near Lulu City

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

• Dutchtown1.9 mi W · Grand
• Gould10.9 mi NW · Jackson
• Poudre City21.0 mi NE · Larimer
• Manhattan23.7 mi NE · Larimer
• Ward31.2 mi SE · Boulder
• Buckhorn32.2 mi E · Larimer
• Coalmont32.4 mi W · Jackson
• Jamestown32.7 mi SE · Boulder

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Lulu City, Colorado - Wikipedia: historical chronology, identity and location; read October 25, 2026.
2. Lulu City - Colorado Ghost Town: historical fact sheet and town history; read October 25, 2026.
3. Colorado River Trailhead (U.S. National Park Service): history, surviving features and visitor information; read October 25, 2026.
4. Current Conditions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service): history, surviving features and visitor information; read October 25, 2026.
5. Park Roads - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service): history, surviving features and visitor information; read October 25, 2026.
6. Trail Conditions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service): history, surviving features and visitor information; read October 25, 2026.
7. Elevation at the mapped point: USGS 3D Elevation Program query, October 25, 2026. Historical topographic sheets: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain).
8. Wikimedia Commons, Lulu City site.jpg: Open ground and forest at the Lulu City site, September 2011; CC BY-SA 2.0. File description and image checked October 25, 2026.
9. Wikimedia Commons, Lulu City town site..jpg: A meadow at Lulu City with the mountains beyond, September 2010; CC BY-SA 3.0. File description and image checked October 25, 2026.
10. Wikimedia Commons, Remnant building site, Lulu City..jpg: Log walls remaining at a former building site, September 2010; CC BY-SA 3.0. File description and image checked October 25, 2026.
11. Rocky Mountain Hiking Trails, “Lulu City”, read October 25, 2026: Colorado River Trailhead parking coordinates used for the drive endpoint; the townsite remains mapped separately.

Photo and map credits

• Open ground and forest at the Lulu City site, September 2011: Kimon Berlin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• A meadow at Lulu City with the mountains beyond, September 2010: Dcloydd, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Log walls remaining at a former building site, September 2010: Dcloydd, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Longs Peak 1915, 1:125,000; Fall River Pass 1958, 1:24,000; Greeley 1961, 1:250,000; Estes Park 1984, 1:100,000.