![Tincup Pass](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tincup-pass-sign-e1676008636766.jpg)
Tincup Pass
Tincup Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 12,154 feet above the sea level
- Located on the Continental Divide in the Gunnison & San Isabel National Forests.
- The trail to the top is 12.4 miles long, climbing up from 10,014 to 12,160 feet above the sea level.
- The lower parts of the road goes through an Aspen forest.
- The road over the pass links the tiny towns of Tincup and St. Elmo, one of Colorado’s ghost towns.
- Near the western end of the valley, the road starts to go up steeply.
- Tincup Pass is a very popular route for off-road enthusiasts during the summer months.
![6 Miles to The Top of Ticup Pass 6 Miles to The Top of Ticup Pass](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tincup-Pass-sign-300x121.png)
- The trail was originally used to move supplies between the two towns.
- Because of the high elevation, 12,154 feet, snow is present on the pass until early July.
- The road is winding, in some places only wide enough for one vehicle.
- Rocky at the top with one short section of narrow shelf road at 12,000 feet that often remains snow covered into early July.
- When miners struck it rich, only burros were sure-footed enough to haul the treasures from precipitous mountain mines.
![Mirror Lake, an iconic alpine lake. Mirror Lake, an iconic Rocky Mountain alpine lake.](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/mirror-lake-tincup-300x196.png)
Near the bottom of Tincup Pass on the West side you pass Mirror Lake, an iconic Rocky Mountain alpine lake.
![Larry Heschke Fishing Larry Heschke Fishing on Mirror Lake on Tincup Pass](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/bone-fishing-300x168.png)
History of the Town of Tincup
During the mining boom of the 1880s, entrepreneurs built freight roads over Cottonwood Pass and Tincup Passes.
- In October 1859, prospector Jim Taylor panned some gold from Willow Creek, and carried the gold back to camp in a ‘Tin cup’.
- He named the valley “Tin Cup Gulch.”
- For years the area was the site of seasonal placer mining.
- But no year-round communities were established, partly because of the fear of Indian attack.
- In the summer of the 1880’s, about 50, six-mule teams each pulling two wagons of ore, serpentined over the passes daily.
![Tin Cup Town Hall Tin Cup Town Hall](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Tincup-old-bldg-300x274.jpg)
- Tincup, was once a prominent mining town.
- Tincup is now a community of summer homes with a few year-round residents.
- Many historic buildings are still in use.
![Rocks stacked in Willow Creek near Tincup Rocks stacked in Willow Creek near Tincup](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/dredge-300x169.jpg)
In 1878, lode deposits were discovered in the area, and the town was plated in March 1879.
- By the 1880 census, the town had a population of 1,495.
- The town was called Virginia City and was incorporated in August 1880.
- But confusion with Virginia City, Nevada, and Virginia City, Montana, caused the residents to change the name.
- The town was reincorporated in July 1882 as Tin Cup.
- Early Tin Cup was a violent place.
- Town marshal Harry Rivers died in a gunfight in 1882, and marshal Andy Jameson was shot to death in 1883.
- The town population declined when the mines were exhausted.
- The post office closed in 1918, and the last town election was held in 1918.
![Remains of an old dredge near Tin Cup Remains of an old dredge](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/dredge1-300x117.jpg)
Ride Tin Cup Pass at X-Roads BV
![6 DAYS OF COLORADO X-ROADS](https://advtours.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/6-days-co-2023-full-bleed-2-232x300.jpg)