Entry No. 23 — the Durango file — filed under: outdoor-weird
Tomboy Ghost Town & the Social Tunnel
“The Rothschilds bought a gold camp for $2 million and gave its miners a bowling alley and tennis courts.”
At 11,509 feet in Savage Basin, the Rothschilds of London bought a gold camp for $2 million in 1897 and gave its miners a YMCA with a bowling alley and tennis courts—Tomboy teams bowled tournaments against the rival Smuggler mine. Single women were banned from camp, so romance happened 2.6 miles down the shelf road at the Social Tunnel, a blasted rock cut where miners met Telluride women halfway. The mine quit in 1928. The ruins didn’t.
The story
In 1897, the London-based Rothschilds dropped $2 million on a gold camp sitting at 11,509 feet in Savage Basin. High-altitude mining was notoriously brutal on morale, so the corporate owners tried a bizarre experiment in social engineering: they built their miners a fully equipped YMCA outfitted with a bowling alley and tennis courts. Before long, Tomboy’s miners were hosting formal bowling tournaments against their arch-rivals from the Smuggler mine across the ridge, trying to hit spares while freezing inside a mountain basin.
The Rothschilds had another strict rule: no single women allowed inside the Tomboy camp under any circumstances. But miners didn't stay monastic for long. Romance was relocated 2.6 miles down the cliffside to a blasted rock overhang known as the Social Tunnel. Telluride women hiked up the steep shelf road and Tomboy miners hiked down, meeting under the blasted granite shelf halfway between civilization and pure corporate isolation.
The ore ran thin by 1928, the company pulled out, and the YMCA bowl lanes froze over. Today, the corrugated iron and heavy timber framing are slowly flattening under Savage Basin's winter pack, leaving an open-air skeleton of early 20th-century high-altitude industrial life sitting just below the tree line.
What it's like
You start the ascent right at the north end of Oak Street in Telluride, grinding up 2,650 vertical feet on a tight, two-way shelf road with sheer drop-offs that will test your vehicle's ground clearance—or your lung capacity if you hike or bike it. At mile 2.6, you'll pass directly through the pitch-black curve of the Social Tunnel before opening up into the vast tundra of Savage Basin. Expect cold wind even in July, marmots whistling at you from rusted machinery piles, and a steady trickle of guided 4x4 tours creeping along the ledge. Mind the signs: these ruins sit on fragile patented mining claims, so look around, but leave the iron rivets and scrap wood right where they lay.
The move: Drive or hike Tomboy Road from the top of Oak Street, stop inside the Social Tunnel—the rock cut literally built for courtship—then picnic among the collapsed boarding houses with marmots whistling at you.
📍 Before you go Tomboy Road leaves from the north end of Oak Street in Telluride: 5 miles and about 2,650 feet of climbing on a narrow shelf road with real drop-offs, so bring a high-clearance 4x4 or strong legs—it is also a popular hike and mountain-bike route. The Social Tunnel sits around mile 2.6; the townsite spreads across the basin below Imogene Pass, which continues over 13,114 feet to Ouray if you want the full loop. Snow blocks the upper road except roughly midsummer through early fall, and unlicensed OHVs are prohibited on the first stretch out of town. Ruins are fragile and on patented mining claims—look, do not pry.
- 📍 Telluride
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Tomboy Road (Imogene Pass road), 5 miles east of Telluride, CO 81435 — starts at the north end of Oak Street
Hours: Added 2026-06-11 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Fort Peabody Ruins (Imogene Pass) — Continue driving past Tomboy up to the top of Imogene Pass to inspect the stone guard post built to shoot union miners in 1904.
- Telluride Historical Museum — Drop back down Oak Street to the 1896 miners' hospital to see photos of the Tomboy YMCA and artifacts pulled from Savage Basin.
- Lone Tree Cemetery — Head to the east end of town to see the headstones of the miners who didn't survive the hard shifts at 11,500 feet.
Good to know
Can I drive a regular sedan or standard rental SUV up to Tomboy?
No. Tomboy Road is a rough, unpaved shelf road requiring high clearance and real 4WD capability, along with nerve for steep drop-offs. If your vehicle isn't equipped, you'll need to hike, mountain bike, or book a local 4WD tour.
What is the Social Tunnel?
It is a blasted rock cut located roughly 2.6 miles up Tomboy Road where Tomboy miners met women hiking up from Telluride, since single women were banned from living inside the mining camp.
When is the ghost town accessible?
Upper Tomboy Road is blocked by heavy snow for most of the year. The route into Savage Basin typically opens by midsummer and remains clear through early fall, depending on annual snowpack.
Can I take an unlicensed OHV or ATV from Telluride up the road?
No. Unlicensed OHVs are strictly prohibited on the lower stretch of Tomboy Road leaving town limits.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: westernmininghistory.com · telluride.com · welovetoexplore.com · Wikipedia
last checked: 2026-06-11