Round Trip Distance: 200 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5998 and 6053 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead 1: 38.59615, -108.14824
Trailhead 2: 38.59096, -108.14664
Fee: none
Attractions: rock shelters, pictographs
Several rock shelters can be found along the Tow-Me-Home Road just west of Olathe, Colorado. The first of them has some black charcoal pictographs similar to ones found in the nearby Casebier Rock Shelter. Both rock shelters have been used as campsites in modern times.
The first rock shelter is at the 2.6 mile point of the Tow-Me-Home Road. For turn-by-turn directions enter 38.59615, -108.14824 into your driving app.
The shelter is across a shallow wash within a few hundred feet of the road.
Some wall remains can be seen on the left side of the shelter.
When people in modern times have come along and used some of the same charcoal to make their initials on the rock it makes it difficult to know what is modern and what isn't. These particular images do seem to be authentic though as they are similar to some found at another nearby rock shelter.
We didn't notice any lithic scatter or other signs of habitation on the surface other than some charcoal.
The second site is another 4 tenths of a mile up the Tow-Me-Home Road at the point of some rocks overlooking a shallow gulch.
It's a lot of fun at this site exploring the various nooks and crannies of the ridge.
The site appears to be a popular campsite for someone as they have left firewood there for future use.
Some of the rocks at the second site have paintball stains on them as well as other painted graffiti. We hiked along the ridge that faces the canyon for a quarter mile or so and found at one point some older inscriptions. Our main destination when we found these rock shelters was Roubideau Creek where there is a nice trail that drops off of the mesa into the canyon. Both sites seem to us to be worth mentioning for anyone else that might be interested.
If you would like to see them for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
Fee: none
Attractions: rock shelters, pictographs
Several rock shelters can be found along the Tow-Me-Home Road just west of Olathe, Colorado. The first of them has some black charcoal pictographs similar to ones found in the nearby Casebier Rock Shelter. Both rock shelters have been used as campsites in modern times.
When people in modern times have come along and used some of the same charcoal to make their initials on the rock it makes it difficult to know what is modern and what isn't. These particular images do seem to be authentic though as they are similar to some found at another nearby rock shelter.
If you would like to see them for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
