COLORADO SCENIC ROUTES
1. Alpine Loop
The Alpine Loop leaves pavement and people behind, crossing the remote, rugged,
spectacular heart of the San Juan Mountains. It’s demanding - the two 12,000-foot
passes (Cinnamon and Engineer) require a high-clearance 4-wheel-drive vehicle
- but the well-prepared motorist reaps unparalleled rewards: pristine mountain
views,hiking and biking trails, great camping opportunities, and ample solitude.
These rocky roads were first used by 19th-century miners, who carted their ore
off to Silverton, Ouray, and Lake City in mule-drawn wagons. Spend an afternoon
exploring abandoned townsites, structures, and other former mining haunts -
if you want to commune with ghosts of Colorado’s rich past.
Length:63 miles
Driving time:4 to 6 hours
Special considerations:Bring full tank of gas, extra food/water; roads can be
muddy; closed in winter
Special features:7 ghost towns, 2 high alpine passes, BLM/USFS wilderness areas
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2. Trail of the Ancients
The Anasazi - the "Ancient Ones" to the later Navajo - guarded their
secrets closely. We know they dominated the Colorado Plateau for hundreds of
years, yet basic questions about them - who they were, how they lived, what
they believed - remain less than fully resolved. This 114-mile route across
the broken, arid terrain of their former civilization is heavily laden with
clues: cliff dwellings, rock art, pottery shards. Hovenweep National Monument
and Mesa Verde National Park. Both contain dense clusters of Anasazi remains,
and the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores offers background and interpretive
information. One branch of the byway leads to the Four Corners Area, connecting
Utah’s Trail of the Ancients byway.
Length:114 miles
Driving time:3 hours
Special considerations:Some gravel surfaces, muddy when wet
Special Features:Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Anasazi
Heritage Center, Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park
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3. San Juan Skyway
If byways could claim royal lineage, this one would probably rule them all.
Start with the major towns along the route - Durango, a well-preserved descendant
of the Old West; picturesque Telluride, renowned for world-class skiing and
film, jazz, and bluegrass festivals; and Silverton and Ouray, Victorian jewels
tucked in deep alpine valleys. Add another diadem - Mesa Verde National Park,
home to one of the densest collections of prehistoric ruins in the U.S. - and
five million acres of undisturbed national forest. Then there are the roads
themselves, snaking through the woods in the shadow of impressive 14,000-foot
peaks. The segment from Ouray to Silverton is called the "Million Dollar
Highway." But you can’t put a price tag on this experience.
Length:236 miles
Driving time:6 hours
Special considerations:Bring a camera; inquire about road conditions during
winter
Special features:Mesa Verde National Park, Anasazi Heritage Center, four wilderness
areas
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4. Unaweep/Tebeguache
Unaweep Canyon knifes through the soft red sandstone of the Uncompahgre Plateau
all the way to Precambrian times. Ancient rivers silted the rock away, exposing
hundreds of millions of years of the geologic record (including fossils of dinosaurs
and early amphibians). Other secrets of the earth were ferreted out by miners
with picks and shovels. The canyon witnessed a copper boom around the turn of
the century; decades later, the U.S. Army processed ore from nearby Uravan to
produce the uranium used in the first atomic bombs. Above all, this ageless
desert region offers sheer scenic wonder - striated cliffs towering a thousand
feet overhead, raging streams, and boundless skies.
Length:133 miles
Driving time:3 hours
Special considerations:Bring full tank of gas, food, and water; long intervals
between service stopst
Special Features:San Miguel River Environmental Area, Unaweep Seep, Dolores
and San Miguel Rivers
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5. West Elk Loop
The twin summits of Mount Sopris and the incomparable Black Canyon of the Gunnison
anchor the ends of the West Elk Loop. This magnificent landscape has been home
to uncounted generations of Native Americans, most recently the Utes. White
settlers originally came in search of minerals and stayed to farm and ranch.
The coke ovens at Redstone bear witness to the toil that built the communities
of today. Carbondale, Hotchkiss, Crawford, Gunnison, Crested Butte, and other
towns offer a slice of Colorado’s rich history, varied lifestyles, and
natural beauty. The route gives access to the White River and Gunnison National
Forests, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, Curecanti National
Recreational Area, and Crawford and Paonia State Parks.
Length:205 miles
Driving time:6 to 8 hours
Special considerations:31-mile gravel section over Kebler Pass closed in winter
Special features:Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Blue Mesa Reservoir
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6. Guanella Pass
For a quick study in Rocky Mountain eco-systems, you could hardly find better
instruction than here. This well-settled road leap-frogs the steep divide between
the South Platte and Clear Creek watersheds, passing through a succession of
distinct environments. The lower elevations are green and wet, thick stands
of spruce, fir, aspen, and pine rising along cascading creeks. Higher up, the
streams snake through broad meadows, succoring thirsty mammals, nesting birds,
and the industrious beaver, The road crests well above timberline, where every
spring the grasses and flowers stubbornly renew, and the fragile tundra thaws
and blossoms. This old logging and mining area flanked by Mounts Bierstadt and
Evans boasts two of the state’s best-preserved Victorian towns, Georgetown
and Silver Plume.
Length:22 miles
Driving time:1 hour
Special considerations:Variable road conditions; popular for fall-color viewing
Special Features:Georgetown Loop Historic Mining and Railroad Park
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7. Mount Evans
The Mount Evans Scenic Byway climbs more than 7,000 feet in just 28 miles, reaching
an altitude of 14,264 feet. At the summit you’ll enjoy the big picture
- the entire Front Range sprawls at your feet - but don’t overlook the
details. This highest of Rocky Mountain highs brings you to the rarefied world
above timberline, a singular amalgam of hardy wildflowers, lichens and grasses,
furry mammals like pikas and marmots, rock-jumping mountain goats, and alpine
lakes. This is perhaps the best place in Colorado to catch a glimpse of the
stately bighorn sheep. The weather is volatile - be prepared for wind, rain,
lightning, snow, and hail any day of the year.
Length:28 miles (one way)
Driving time:1 hour (one way)
Special Considerations:Bring warm clothing, sunscreen; summit open Memorial
Day through Labor Day only
Special features:Highest paved road in North America
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8. Peak to Peak
Welcome to the showcase of the Front Range. Less than an hour from Denver, Boulder,
or Fort Collins, this 55-mile-long route provides matchless views of the Continental
Divide and its timbered approaches. The string of popular attractions along
the way - Rocky Mountain National Park, Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Arapaho
and Roosevelt National Forests, the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, Eldora Ski
Resort - combine recreation with nature preservation. The gravel roads criss-crossing
the main highway lead to high-country lakes, trailheads, campgrounds, the Moffat
Tunnel’s east portal, and ghost towns at Hesse and Apex. Established in
1918 this is Colorado’s oldest scenic byway.
Length:55 miles
Driving time:80 minutes
Special Features:Rocky Mountain National Park, Golden Gate Canyon State Park,
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, Eldora
Ski Resort
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9. Cache la Poudre- North Park
This byway links Fort Collins with verdant North Park, a quiet, bowl-shaped
valley just west of the Continental Divide. The road runs through the Cache
la Poudre River canyon, once a useful transit corridor for Native Americans
and, later, white explorers. Today’s visitors lean more toward recreation;
whitewater boaters and anglers love the Poudre, Colorado’s only federally
designated National Wild and Scenic River. At 10,276-foot Cameron Pass the highway
intercepts Colorado State Forest, a 70,000-acre preserve of glaciated mountains
and evergreen thickets. North Park, once a favorite bison grazing ground, remains
heavily populated with deer, antelope, elk, moose, beaver, and coyote; migrating
waterfowl flock to the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge.
Length:101 miles
Driving time:3 hours
Special considerations:Watch for livestock crossing road, commercial trucks
(semis), heavy summer traffic
Special features:Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado State Forest, outstanding
fishing
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23. Trail Ridge Road
Soaring to an elevation of 12,183 feet, Trail Ridge Road seems to leave the
earth behind. It slices through the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park, entering
a world of rare alpine beauty. Distant peaks loom in all directions, while fragrant
wildflowers blanket the tundra in mid-summer. Sharp-eyed observers can usually
spy elk, bighorn sheep, and other wildlife traversing the meadows and crags.
Higher than any paved through-road in the country, this cliff-hugging highway
is as impressive for its engineering as for its stunning vistas. You can't find
a road like this one anywhere outside of Colorado.
Length:48 miles
Driving time:2 hours
Special considerations:Open from about Memorial Day through mid-October; unpredictable
weather; no fuel available
Special Features:Nationally designated as an "All American Road",
Numerous overlooks and short hiking trails; Visitor Center at Fall River Pass
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10. Colorado River Headwaters
Downstream the Colorado is a mighty river irrigating and providing power to
the Southwestern United States. But up here, at its source, it is no different
from dozens of other Rocky Mountain waterways, a clear brook tumbling across
greenish meadows and down cramped redrock gorges. This stretch between Grand
Lake and State Bridge offers first-class fishing, canoeing, and rafting, along
with plenty of quiet spaces where you can sit on the banks and contemplate.
The route begins at Grand Lake, an old resort town on the shores of Colorado’s
largest natural lake, and ends on a gravel road through spectacular Upper Gore
Canyon.
Length:80 miles
Driving time:2 hours
Special considerations:Limited visitor services; gravel surface between Kremmling
and State Bridge
Special features:Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho National Recreation Area
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11. Flat Top Trail
This byway cuts through the heart of the original White River Plateau Timberland
Reserve, set aside in the late 19th century as the second unit of what eventually
became the National Forest system. Two decades later, in a foreshadowing of
the 1964 Wilderness Act, development of any kind was banned around Trapper’s
Lake (the "Cradle of Wilderness"). The area’s long-standing history
of preservation and multiple-use land management makes for pristine scenery
and superlative wildlife viewing. Yet this remains very much a "working"
byway, dotted with active mines, ranches, and timber-producing woodlands. Meeker
and Yampa, the route’s two endpoints, embody the rugged individualism that
lies at the heart of western lore.
Length:82 miles
Driving time:2 hours
Special considerations:Fill tank in Yampa, Buford, or Meeker; roads muddy when
wet
Special Features:White River National Forest, Flat Tops Wilderness Area
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12. Grand Mesa
Fittingly, the Utes called the Grand Mesa "Thunder Mountain." Standing
at Land’s End Overlook, the Grand Valley unfolding more than a mile below,
one might easily fell like Zeus himself, thunderbolts at the ready. Indeed,
this playground in the sky seems a bit too heavenly for mere mortals. From I-70,
the road climbs through the dusty canyon of Plateau Creek to the cool evergreen
forests of the mesa top, 11,000 feet above sea level. Porcupines, mountain lions,
coyotes, red fox, elk, and deer thrive here, and the mesa’s 300 stream-fed
lakes swarm with rainbow, cutthroat, and brook trout. For those seeking a higher
plane of being, this 63-mile route offers a truly transcendent experience.
Length:63 miles
Driving time:2 hours
Special considerations:No services between Cedaredge and Mesa; spur road to
Land’s End closed in winter
Special features:Grand Mesa National Forest
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22. Dinosaur Diamond
Some of the world's most significant dinosaur fossil quarries and museums are
clustered along this route, in the midst of a forbidding but stunningly beautiful
landscape. The earth, fractured and stained, coughs up a rare collection of
treasures. Ancient stone rises to the surface after eons underground; skeletons
buried 100 million years ago now bleach in the desert sun. The byway traverses
high mountains and barren plateaus, with stops at two national parks, two national
monuments, and two great rivers of the West(the Colorado and Green). This dramatic
maze of rocks and bones defies the imagination.
Length:486 miles
Driving time:2-3 days
Special considerations:Limited services on some stretches; carry extra water
Special Features:Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado National Monument
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13. Los Caminos Antiguos
The Great Sand Dunes are one of nature’s most painstaking creations. Hundreds
of feet high and more than a thousand miles from the nearest ocean beach, these
huge drifting dunes accumulated over the eons as winds gathered and swept sand
against the west face of the Sangre de Cristo Range. That slow, determined process
reflects the spirit of the San Luis Valley - a high, enormous, sun-baked flat
between the Sangres, and the San Juan foothills. Life here would not seem to
have changed much since the 1600s, when Spain cast its claim over this region.
Los Caminos Antiguos take you to Colorado’s oldest surviving community
(San Luis, 1851), the oldest church (Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Conejos), and
one of its first military posts (Fort Garland). Drive, explore, take your time-
there’s plenty of it to spare.
Length:129 miles
Driving time:3 hours
Special considerations:Accessible year-round
Special features:Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Cumbres/Toltec Scenic Railroad
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14. Top of the Rockies
At 10,200 feet, Leadville is the highest incorporated community in the United
States. Yet in this setting, surrounded on all sides by 14,000-foot behemoths,
the city occupies the lowlands. South of town, Colorado’s two loftiest
mountains - Elbert and Massive - stand side by side like Jupiter and Saturn.
The colossal peaks of this area yielded fortunes of like proportions in the
19th century, as miners pulled millions of dollars’ worth of mineral from
the ground. The luckiest of them, Horace Tabor, became one of the titans of
Colorado’s silver industry. This 82-mile route crosses the Continental
Divide twice and traces the Arkansas River nearly to its source in the vicinity
of Fremont Pass. The small communities of Redcliff, Minturn, and Twin Lakes
add charm.
Length:82 miles
Driving time:2 hours
Special considerations:Use normal winter precautions
Special Features:Tennessee and Fremont passes; Arkansas Headwaters State Recreation
Area; Pike, Arapaho, White River National Forests
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15. Silver Thread
The colorful old mining camps of the Silver Thread offer history, scenic beauty,
and a heavy dose of authenticity. The heights around Creede and Lake City remain
strewn with abandoned mining structures, most of them accessible via rugged
backcountry roads. Between the two towns, Highway 149 shadows the upper reaches
of the Rio Grande, serving up a bounty of natural wonders - sparkling North
Clear Creek Falls, the Slumgullion earth slide, and the shark-like fin of Uncompahgre
Peak. These mountains can be unforgiving: In 1848 explorer John C. Fremont lost
a third of his men - and a quarter of a century later the infamous Alfred Packer
cannibalized his companions - in two ill- fated winter expeditions.
Length:75 miles
Driving time:2 hours
Special features:Collier State Wildlife Area, Rio Grande National Forest
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16. Gold Belt Tour
In the early 1890s the mining towns in the shadow of Pikes Peak enjoyed the
greatest gold boom the state has ever known. This 131-mile circuit tours historic
Cripple Creek, Florence, McCourt, Adelaide, Wilbur, Victor, and other former
gold camps. The roads are narrow and rugged in places - one stretch of the Shelf
Road clings to a canyon wall 200 feet above the stream bed - but the payoff
comes in the outstanding scenery: majestic Pikes Peak, the unspoiled Beaver
Creek Wilderness Study Area, spectacular Royal Gorge, and miles of high-country
beauty. Two significant fossil areas - Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
and the Garden Park Dinosaur Fossil Area - lie along the route.
Length:131 miles
Driving time:5 hours
Special considerations:Phantom Canyon and Upper Shelf roads have rough, gravel
surfaces; avoid in wet weather; 4WD recommended on Upper Shelf; no vehicles
over 25 feet long on Phantom Canyon Road
Special Features:Royal Gorge Bridge, Mueller State Park, Florissant Fossil Beds
National Monument
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17. Frontier Pathways
During the winter of 1806 - 7, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike nearly froze to death
in the Wet Mountain Valley, within sight of the peak bearing his name. Yet this
fertile, sheltered dale hard by the Sangre de Cristos became something of a
beacon to 19th-century settlers who arrived in force to take advantage of the
good soil and climate. Today the valley boasts one of the state’s finest
collections of vintage ranches and farmsteads, some dating back to the 1840s;
abandoned trading posts and stage stops contribute to this memory of the past.
This pastoral paradise contrasts nicely wit the more severe scenery - rugged
Hardscrabble Canyon, the whitecapped Sangre de Cristos, and sharp mesas and
hogbacks flanking the Arkansas River - found elsewhere on the route.
Length:103 miles
Driving time:3 1/2 hours
Special Features:San Isabel National Forest, Lake Pueblo State Park, El Pueblo
Museum (Pueblo)
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18. Pawnee Pioneer Trail
This is the kind of scenic route the high plains are known for - open and endless.
The land reveals itself in increments on this seemingly infinite expanse of
shortgrass prairie; a new horizon appears at the tip of every swale. The tranquil
confluence of earth and sky is disturbed only by the distant silhouette of the
Rocky Mountains and the sudden upward jut of the Pawnee Buttes. These 250-foot-high
knobs, visible for miles around, guided Indian and pioneer travelers over the
years; today they provide refuge for coyote, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs,
and hundreds of bird species. The surrounding region, first settled by 19th-century
homesteaders, remains prime agricultural land, punctuated by tidy rural towns
and modern-day homes on the range.
Length:128 miles
Driving time:3 hours
Special considerations:Start with full tank of gas; avoid gravel roads in heavy
rain or snow
Special Features:Pawnee National Grassland; Pawnee Buttes
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19. South Platte River Trail
Though it’s the shortest of Colorado’s twenty-one byways, the South
Platte River Trail is long on history. Thousands of Fifty-Niners passed this
way to Denver and the mines beyond in the early days of the Pikes Peak rush.
The 19-mile loop includes stops at the site of the only Pony Express station
in Colorado, where 15-year-old William F. Cody - Buffalo Bill - signed in as
a rider; the location of old Fort Sedgwick, established in 1865 to guard westward
migrants from Indian raids; and the spot where Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux
warriors attacked a detachment of cavalrymen to avenge the Sand Creek Massacre.
The route also follows the old Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to- coast automobile
road in the United States.
Length:19 miles
Driving time:30 minutes
Special Considerations:Accessible year-round
Special Features:Fort Sedgwick, Pony Express sites, and the South Platte River
Trail
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20. Highway of Legends
Did George Simpson really save Trinidad from marauding Utes by distracting them
with taunts? Where is the lost gold vein that supposedly offered nuggets so
rich a 19th-century prospector could live off one for a full year? And what
fate befell Juan Humana and his band of conquistadors, who disappeared near
the Purgatoire River in 1594 and were never again seen alive? You may not find
the answers on the Highway of Legends, but you will enjoy the dramatic settings
that have inspired tall tales among Native American nomads, Spanish explorers,
and Anglo and Hispanic settlers for hundreds of years. From the impenetrable
heights of the Sangre de Cristos and Spanish Peaks to the ominous redrock abutments
of the Dakota Wall and the Devil’s Stairsteps, this land is truly larger
than life.
Length:82 miles
Driving time:2 hours
Special considerations:Bring a camera and a guidebook to the region’s geology
Special Features:Geological formations, Trinidad State Park, Spanish Peaks
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21. Santa Fe Trail
On a clear spring day, a sharp observer can still discern the wagon-wheel ruts
of the Santa Fe Trail wending their way across the prairie. The cultural legacies
of this historic trade route, which saw its heaviest use between the 1820s and
1870s, remain just as distinct. The byway, which comprises a 188-mile portion
of the trail, traverses one of the last strongholds of the nomadic Plains Indians
and one of the first toeholds of Anglo-American pioneers, who began homesteading
along the Arkansas River in the 1860s. The Mountain Branch of the trail traveled
through what is today Trinidad and crossed Raton Pass, a mountain gap used by
Native Americans for centuries. The byway’s midpoint is Bent’s Old
Fort, once a trading post and cultural melting pot, now a National Historic
Site.
Length:188 miles
Driving time:4 hours
Special Considerations:Good buys at fruit and vegetable stands
Special Features:Bent’s Old Fort, Comanche National Grasslands, Trinidad
History Museum (Trinidad)