Colorado has good roads. Maybe not always in the smooth-pavement sense, but definitely in the sense that they take us to the most unusual places. The federal government acknowledged this bit of transportation truth late last month, designating two more of our roads National Scenic Byways. Trail of the Ancients, in the Four Corners region, and the Colorado River Headwaters Byway, which starts in Rocky Mountain National Park, bring our total of nationally designated routes to 10, more than any state but Oregon. There will be plenty of time to explore those freshly honored highways, but these drives you’ll have to make before the snow flies.
BOREAS PASS
What it is: A scenic, 20-mile gravel road that follows an abandoned narrow-gauge railroad bed across the Continental Divide between Breckenridge and Como. Closed with a gate Nov. 1.
What you’ll see: Splendid stands of aspen at lower elevations on both ends, with a historic wooden water tank halfway up the north approach to the summit, and a long-closed roundhouse at the south end in Como. There is a restored section house at the 11,481-foot summit, now available as a winter ski hut through the 10th Mountain Division Hut System (huts.org).
Why it’s cool: The grade is just 3 percent, the standard for locomotives. It’s so gentle it can make a novice mountain biker hanker for a steep single track.
Find it: Start in Breckenridge. Head south on Main Street to Boreas Pass Road and turn right. – Jack Cox
CAMERON PASS
What it is: The high point of the paved Cache La Poudre-
North Park Byway, which crosses the Continental Divide in a 110-mile ribbon from Fort Collins to Walden. At the 10,276-
foot summit, you’re in the thick of the Colorado State Forest.
What you’ll see: You’ll be traveling along Colorado’s only National Wild and Scenic River, past the world-famous and slightly rowdy Mishawaka Amphitheatre, through the Never Summer Mountains and the Rawah Wilderness. Head over the pass and just before you get to Gould, at the edge of North Park, is the Moose Visitors Center. In this area, you may see moose mucking around in the boggy areas.
Why it’s cool: Paved all the way, and almost always open. There are plenty of places to pull off and gawk at the scenery and numerous high hiking trails that change to snowmobile, cross-country skiing and dog sled uses in winter.
Find it: Start in Fort Collins. Head north on U.S. 287 to Ted’s Place and turn west on Colorado 14 about 60 miles to the Cameron Pass parking area.
– Dana Coffield
COTTONWOOD PASS
What it is: A two-tone trail over the Sawatch Range between Buena Vista and Almont, paved for the entire 20 miles or so on the east side but gravel for the top 14 of the 40 miles on the west side. Usually closed by early November, but some years has been passable as late as Thanksgiving.
What you’ll see: On the east side, Cottonwood Hot Springs, a funky inn and spa with all-natural pools as toasty as 104 degrees, and the Denny Creek trailhead, jump-off point for climbs of Mount Yale, easiest of the Collegiate Peaks; on the west side, cabins and a vintage “trading post” overlooking Taylor Reservoir, a boating and ice-fishing mecca created by a 206-foot-tall earth-fill dam built in the middle of the Great Depression.
Why it’s cool: The 20-mile stretch along the Taylor River east of Almont goes through one of the prettiest small canyons in the state, with bighorn sheep, fly-fishing spots and campgrounds galore.
Find it: Start in Buena Vista. Head west on West Main Street. It becomes County
Road 306 and takes you
over the pass. – Jack Cox
INDEPENDENCE PASS
What it is: A paved but sometimes frighteningly narrow route over the Continental Divide between Aspen and Twin Lakes. Closed as soon as snow and wind make it unsafe, which occurred Nov. 1 last year.
What you’ll see: Wonderful groves of aspen straddling the road partway up both sides, ruins of the old mining town of Independence, and side roads or trails leading to such destinations as La Plata Peak on the east and Grizzly Lake Trail on the west.
Why it’s cool: With huge drop-offs from shelf-road sections on both sides of the 12,095-foot summit, this may be the most hair-raising non-four-
wheel-drive road in the state. Getting over it intact, especially on a weekend when there’s something big going on in Aspen, is an experience no Coloradan wannabe should miss.
Find it: From Leadville, head south on U.S. 24 to Colorado 82 and head west. – Jack Cox
SLUMGULLION PASS
What it is: A scenic byway that goes over two summits, Slumgullion and Spring Creek, between Creede and Lake City. Generally open in winter, but remote and risky for the inexperienced.
What you’ll see: Trophy homes on the east side, built mostly by Texans who can journey up the Rio Grande without having to go over any high passes, and the mother of all landslides on the west side, a huge slumping “earth-flow” that began 700 years ago and is still sliding up to 20 feet a year. It backed up the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, creating Lake San Cristobal, the second-largest natural lake in Colorado.
Why it’s cool: Slumgullion is the steepest paved pass in the state, with an average grade of nearly 8 percent on its south side and 9.4 percent on the north, surpassed only by the 10 to 15 percent on the Mount Evans road above Summit Lake – which isn’t a pass. Check your horsepower and your brakes, and don’t let your coffee cup slide off the dashboard.
Find it: From Creede, follow Colorado 149 northwest out of town. – Jack Cox
TRAIL RIDGE ROAD
What it is: Stunning paved, two-way road runs 48 miles from Estes Park to Grand Lake, through Rocky Mountain National Park. About 11 miles of the road are above tree line, winding through vast fields of tundra that seem never to end. Open in summer and fall, and only after an incredible plowing operation that takes about 42 days to complete.
What you’ll see: Pikas, marmots, ptarmigans, elk, bighorn sheep and about 200 species of tiny alpine plants. Oh, and some of the most extraordinary views you can imagine. Understanding there is a delicate balance between looky-looing and getting to the summit, the park service has thoughtfully created numerous large pull-offs. Each includes interpretive signs that help you understand the park ecology and geology, and point out the distant mountain ranges.
Why it’s cool: Winter’s snowfields sometimes are still around in August. If you take the alternate Old Fall River Road – one way, gravel, scary – from the east side of the park up to the Alpine Visitor’s Center, at 12,183 feet, you may see telemark skiers.
Find it: From Estes Park, enter Rocky Mountain National Park and follow the signs to Old Fall River Road or Trail Ridge Road. There is an entrance fee at the park gate. – Dana Coffield
