Old Roach, Colorado facts for kids
Old Roach is a ghost town in Colorado, near the Wyoming border. It was once a busy town where people worked in logging. This town existed from about 1923 to 1938.
Old Roach was built by the Otto Lumber Company. Their main job was to cut down trees to make "railroad ties." These ties are the big wooden beams that support railroad tracks. The loggers who cut and shaped these ties were called "tie hacks."
Old Roach was a complete town. It had homes for the workers and their families. There was also a post office, a store, and even a school! People lived and worked here for about 15 years.
Eventually, the town was taken apart. This happened because it was located on Roosevelt National Forest land. Today, if you visit Old Roach, you'll only find a few old building foundations. You can also see parts of a wooden flume and a splash dam near Stuck Creek. These were used to control water flow. They helped float the new railroad ties down to the Big Laramie River. The ties were then collected in Laramie, Wyoming, for the Union Pacific Railroad.
Exploring Old Roach
Old Roach is located within the Roosevelt National Forest. Experts from the U.S. Forest Service have explored the area. They did this through a program called Passport in Time (PIT).
In 2006, archaeologists and volunteers surveyed the town site. They looked for old items and mapped the area. They also surveyed the splash dam and the Stuck Creek flume. In 2007, they searched for Forrester Camp. This was another logging camp used by the Otto Lumber Company. They found it about 5 miles southeast of Old Roach.
In 2008, another camp called "Camp 3" was found. It is about 3 miles west of Old Roach. In 2009, the East Beaver Creek camp was located. This camp is about five miles northwest of Old Roach. The Forest Service hopes to find and record more of these old logging camps in the future.
Climate Around Old Roach
There is a weather station called Roach near Old Roach. It is very high up, at about 9,700 feet (2,957 meters). The climate here is a subalpine climate. This means it's cold and snowy for much of the year. Only two months usually have an average temperature above 50°F (10°C).
| Climate data for Roach, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals: 9700ft (2957m) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 27.4 (−2.6) |
29.6 (−1.3) |
37.7 (3.2) |
44.0 (6.7) |
53.2 (11.8) |
64.0 (17.8) |
70.9 (21.6) |
68.5 (20.3) |
60.5 (15.8) |
47.3 (8.5) |
34.9 (1.6) |
26.5 (−3.1) |
47.0 (8.4) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 18.8 (−7.3) |
19.9 (−6.7) |
26.6 (−3.0) |
32.2 (0.1) |
40.6 (4.8) |
49.2 (9.6) |
55.9 (13.3) |
54.1 (12.3) |
47.1 (8.4) |
36.6 (2.6) |
26.3 (−3.2) |
18.3 (−7.6) |
35.5 (1.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 10.1 (−12.2) |
10.0 (−12.2) |
15.3 (−9.3) |
20.4 (−6.4) |
27.9 (−2.3) |
34.4 (1.3) |
40.9 (4.9) |
39.7 (4.3) |
33.5 (0.8) |
25.8 (−3.4) |
17.6 (−8.0) |
10.1 (−12.2) |
23.8 (−4.6) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.07 (78) |
2.98 (76) |
3.22 (82) |
4.24 (108) |
3.44 (87) |
2.06 (52) |
1.64 (42) |
1.41 (36) |
2.11 (54) |
2.57 (65) |
2.86 (73) |
3.14 (80) |
32.74 (833) |
| Source 1: XMACIS2 | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (Precipitation) | |||||||||||||
Another weather station is at Hohnholz Ranch. This ranch is about 6.8 miles east of Old Roach. It also has a subalpine climate.
| Climate data for Hohnholz Ranch, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, 1985-2020 extremes: 7797ft (2377m) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 60 (16) |
58 (14) |
70 (21) |
76 (24) |
84 (29) |
93 (34) |
92 (33) |
90 (32) |
87 (31) |
77 (25) |
68 (20) |
59 (15) |
93 (34) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 50.3 (10.2) |
51.2 (10.7) |
60.1 (15.6) |
69.3 (20.7) |
77.3 (25.2) |
84.0 (28.9) |
88.4 (31.3) |
85.9 (29.9) |
82.0 (27.8) |
73.3 (22.9) |
60.8 (16.0) |
51.1 (10.6) |
88.8 (31.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 34.6 (1.4) |
36.4 (2.4) |
44.2 (6.8) |
51.7 (10.9) |
61.7 (16.5) |
73.5 (23.1) |
80.2 (26.8) |
78.0 (25.6) |
70.6 (21.4) |
57.3 (14.1) |
43.7 (6.5) |
34.2 (1.2) |
55.5 (13.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 20.9 (−6.2) |
22.0 (−5.6) |
30.2 (−1.0) |
36.3 (2.4) |
45.3 (7.4) |
54.8 (12.7) |
61.0 (16.1) |
58.5 (14.7) |
50.8 (10.4) |
40.0 (4.4) |
29.3 (−1.5) |
20.5 (−6.4) |
39.1 (4.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 7.3 (−13.7) |
7.7 (−13.5) |
16.1 (−8.8) |
21.0 (−6.1) |
28.8 (−1.8) |
36.2 (2.3) |
41.8 (5.4) |
39.1 (3.9) |
31.0 (−0.6) |
22.7 (−5.2) |
14.8 (−9.6) |
6.8 (−14.0) |
22.8 (−5.1) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −21.4 (−29.7) |
−19.6 (−28.7) |
−8.1 (−22.3) |
4.9 (−15.1) |
13.6 (−10.2) |
26.8 (−2.9) |
33.1 (0.6) |
30.6 (−0.8) |
19.6 (−6.9) |
5.2 (−14.9) |
−7.5 (−21.9) |
−21.1 (−29.5) |
−28.8 (−33.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −48 (−44) |
−42 (−41) |
−31 (−35) |
−13 (−25) |
−8 (−22) |
19 (−7) |
26 (−3) |
22 (−6) |
10 (−12) |
−14 (−26) |
−29 (−34) |
−41 (−41) |
−48 (−44) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.64 (16) |
0.74 (19) |
1.05 (27) |
1.61 (41) |
1.74 (44) |
1.56 (40) |
1.40 (36) |
1.41 (36) |
1.36 (35) |
1.12 (28) |
0.90 (23) |
0.74 (19) |
14.27 (364) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 10.40 (26.4) |
11.20 (28.4) |
15.00 (38.1) |
16.80 (42.7) |
7.90 (20.1) |
0.80 (2.0) |
0.00 (0.00) |
0.00 (0.00) |
1.70 (4.3) |
10.00 (25.4) |
12.50 (31.8) |
11.30 (28.7) |
97.6 (247.9) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 7.7 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 11.0 | 10.2 | 8.5 | 10.0 | 10.7 | 8.5 | 6.8 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 107.2 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 8.0 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 9.6 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 7.2 | 8.6 | 57.6 |
| Source 1: NOAA | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: XMACIS (records & monthly max/mins) | |||||||||||||
