Re: Silverton RR Lines-town remains

Grant -
The drive from Silverton to Eureka (through Howardsville) will be a snap for you in your Explorer (it is amost all water-level type driving). The drive up the hill from Eureka to Animas Forks won't be much of a problem, but it is a little bit of a slow go because it is bumpy and rutted.
In addition to the so-called Walsh house (Animas Forks), which I hear was stabilized by the historical society, the rebuilt water tank was in place at Eureka (by the way, get a Xerox map of the Eureka mill from Dr. Sloan's book and trace the foundations there!), I think the old post office is still standing in Howardsville, as are/were two of the mills (you have to drive right next to the Yukon mill on the road to Eureka).
The road from Howardsville along the Green Mountain branch wasn't too bad the last time I was there (a few years ago, but you will have to turn around past the Buffalo Boy and Old Hundred area at the campground below Highland Mary Lakes.
There is a road that parallels the river and county road from near the Mayflower past the site of the old Silver Lake mill that used to be quite passable, and is the old railway right-of-way. I went down that road about 1990 and there was a Winnebago stuck in a pot hole. Turns out the Winnebago was being driven by Bobby Unser (the Indy race car driver).
There are a lot of neat places to drive to while you are in the area, and the roads are in really pretty good shape. Your biggest challenge will be navigating past all the tourists on the roads in rented jeeps.
Wish it wasn't so far for me to get down there again!
Ted Wilton
Fairbanks, Alaska