An easy 2.7-mile round trip up a historic mining road, gaining about 390 feet to the Sallie Barber Mine at roughly 10,400 feet. The mine operated from the 1880s into the 1940s and became Summit County's most famous zinc producer during the World War I era. The timber headframe still stands over the shaft, alongside ore-cart remnants and machinery, with interpretive signs describing the steam plant, air compressor, and the mine's three working levels.

The road overlooks French Gulch, one of the most intensively dredged valleys in Colorado, and in winter it packs down into one of the county's most reliable beginner snowshoe routes — for locals it's the standard first-snowshoe and after-work outing, and a fat-bike favorite besides. Summer brings hikers and mountain bikers.

The trailhead sits 3.8 miles up French Gulch Road, which is plowed in winter. The small dirt pullout fills on weekend mornings, and no permits are needed.