Mount
Bross
William Bross, Illinois's lieutenant governor, climbed neighboring Mount Lincoln in 1868 and was reportedly so taken with the view that he sang a hymn on the summit; the peak later named for him sits about a mile south. Silver turned up on its slopes the same year prospectors struck it on Lincoln, in the summer of 1871, and mining scarred the mountain with shafts and prospect holes for decades afterward.
Those old workings prompted the mountain's owners to close public access in 2005 over liability fears; the town of Alma's 2006 lease reopened the loop trail around Bross but not its true summit, which remains closed today. The Conservation Fund and U.S. Forest Service added roughly 480 acres of the peak to public land in 2025 and 2026, but hikers finishing the DeCaLiBron loop still bypass the actual high point.
SOURCE Wikipedia — Mount BrossCurrent (June 2026, 14ers.com Kite Lake TH reports): Kite Lake Road closed for construction to ~1.4 mi below the trailhead through Jul 31, 2026 — foot access still allowed; CFI trail-reconstruction work runs through the 2026 field season. Day-use fee $8/vehicle at the trailhead (14ers.com mr01; older sources cite $3-5). Legal status: Democrat and Cameron summits are public land; Lincoln's summit is open conditionally (private, waiver kiosk on the access road; Kite Lake route only — CFI); Mount Bross's TRUE SUMMIT REMAINS CLOSED (private, defunct mine shafts, landowner consensus never reached) — the loop legally bypasses it below the top. USFS added 480 acres on Bross, including the Lincoln-Bross trail segment, to Pike-San Isabel NF on Mar 18, 2026 (fs.usda.gov release), but the release states the summit 'remains privately owned' and 'public access to the summit remains restricted.'