Wurts Ditch
Maps:
USGS 7.5' Map:	Leadville North
Statistics:	Difficulty: Number: Miles: Altitude: Obstacles: Time: Graded FR 100 0.80 10,384 to 10,590 ft. NA 10 min
County:	Lake
Adopted by:
Managed by:	San Isabel National Forest, Leadville Ranger District	810 Front Street Leadville, CO 80461	719-486-0749
Summary:	Wurts Ditch is a short road from County Road 19, Meadow Drive, to the top of the Continental Divide.
Attractions:	Continental Divide, Colorado Trail and CDNST
Seasonal Closure:	Natural - Closed by heavy snows
Best Time:	June - May still be closed by snow July - Best August - Best September - Best October - Early snows may block the road
Trail Heads Accessed:	Continental Divide National Scenic Trail - Hike, Horse, Mountain Bike Colorado Trail, FT1776 - Hike, Horse, Mountain Bike Wurts Ditch Trailhead - Hike, Horse, Mountain Bike, ATV, Dirt Bike, Jeep
Camping:	There is one dispersed campsites along the road.
Base Camp:	This would be a good area to base camp and explore the roads around Tennessee Pass.
Fall Colors:	Poor - Mainly pine forest.
Navigation:	From Leadville, CO head north on Harrison Ave toward W 6th Street for 0.2 miles. Turn right onto E 9th Street and go 0.1 miles. Turn left and go 1.0 mile. Turn left onto US-24 West and go 7.1 miles. Turn left onto Meadows Drive and go 0.9 miles. Turn right onto Wuritz Ditch Road. From Red Cliff head south on US-24 E and go 13.9 miles. Turn right onto Meadows Drive and go 0.9 miles. Turn right onto Wuritz Ditch Road.
History:	Tennessee Pass is the location of the first transbasin diversion project to move water from the Colorado River Basin over the continental divide to the Arkansas River. The 1.5-mile Ewing Placer Ditch (or just Ewing Ditch) was constructed in 1880 and remains in use. It transfers water from Piney Creek east of the pass, a tributary of the Eagle River, over the pass to the head of Tennessee Creek. The ditch may have originally been used to provide water for placer mining, but the Otero Canal Company used the water for irrigation before selling the ditch to the Pueblo Board of Water Works in 1955. The ditch has a capacity of 18.5 cubic feet per second and in an average year diverts approximately 1,000 acre feet of water. A second ditch was constructed at Tennessee pass in 1929, the 6-mile Wurts Ditch. This was built by William Richard Wurts, born in 1890 in Rifle, CO., to provide irrigation water, but Pueblo purchased this ditch in 1938, and in 1953, they extended the ditch another 6.5 miles westward along the south flank of the Eagle River valley. After extension, the ditch has a capacity of 100 cubic feet per second and diverts an average of about 2,700 acre feet of water.
Description:
Starting from County Road 19 the road is about two lanes, graded gravel. The road will pass a dispersed camp site on the left just past the start. After about 0.30 miles the Continental Divide Trail and the Colorado Trail will cross the road. Past this trail crossing you will come to a bridge over Wurts Ditch which is the top of No Name, FR705, road that will follow Wurtz Ditch into Eagle County. Just past the bridge on the left is a parking area and trailhead for the Wurts Ditch. Past this building you will come to a gate which is the start of Slide Lake, FR145, 4WD road.
Data updated - December 31, 2020        4WD Road driven - September 6, 2020        Copyright 4X4Explore.com - 2000-2021