CREEDE • It’s a place somewhere between Colorado’s majestic San Juan Mountains and magical San Luis Valley. A place overlooked by rugged, granite walls that tell tall tales of the past. A place that inspired the so-called “Poet Laureate of the Rockies,” Cy Warman, and many artists today moved by the scenic beauty more than a century later.

“The LAST Great Place,” reads the welcome sign into Creede.

What makes the town that? We once went around asking the question.

“The seclusion, the quietness,” answered one local.

You get that in the town that has in recent years counted fewer than 300 year-round residents. You get the feel of the same town that Nicholas Creede saw rise in the 1890s; he’s the one credited for sparking the silver boom here.

Creede indeed feels trapped in time. But it’s not always so quiet.

Just as the town bustled during the mining rush, it does so again when summer rolls around. However secluded, the word is out on “The LAST Great Place.”

See the sights

Bachelor Loop is a rugged, 17-mile drive through the canyon that put Creede on the map. The drive is a photographer’s dream, showcasing old mining shafts and structures amid natural splendor.

Another must-do drive: Take the Silver Thread Scenic & Historic Byway (Colorado 149) about 25 miles west of town to North Clear Creek Falls. The massive cascade is seen gushing through cliffs from an overlook that makes for a good picnic spot.

And then there’s the drive that is much more complicated and doubly rewarding. The U.S. Forest Service calls the 14-mile road to Wheeler Geologic Area “grueling.” It requires the right rig and four-wheeling know-how.

Following East Bellows Trail, one also can backpack about seven miles into the otherworldly domain of colorful rock spires. Camping is allowed just outside the geologic area.