high- elevation passes and cruising through historic towns rich in frontier and mining history.
We began our journey just west of Denver, in the town of Golden, home of Coors Brewery. Tucked against the Front Range, where the rolling plains take on a decidedly more vertical orientation, Golden gets its name from the 19thcentury gold rush. It’ s also a major recreation hub for hikers, mountain bikers, and kayakers.
We jumped right into the good stuff on Lookout Mountain Road, which climbs into the Rockies via switchbacks and floorboard- scraping curves. After a few miles we joined Interstate 70 westbound. The super slab gets a bad rap, often deservedly so, but the 500 miles of I- 70 from Denver to its western terminus in Utah is one of the most dramatic and beautiful stretches of interstate highway anywhere in America.
We took exit 216 for U. S. Route 6, and in less than 5 miles we arrived at Loveland Pass( 11,990 feet), the seventh highest paved road in Colorado and a crossover point on the Continental Divide, which separates the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds. We continued west on U. S. 6 through the ski town of Keystone, then south on State Route 1 around Dillon Reservoir and south on State Route 9 through Breckenridge, another ski town.
Next up was Hoosier Pass( 11,539 feet), another Continental Divide crossover. It was named in the 1860s by miners and prospectors from Indiana who settled in Hoosier Gulch during the Pike’ s Peak Gold Rush.
As the elevation chart on the map shows, this 415- mile route, which is best traveled in late spring through early fall due to snow at high elevations, includes a series of sharp peaks preceded and followed by steep grades with gradual ascents and descents in between. What can only be seen by
Loveland Pass is on U. S. Route 6, and the air is noticeably thin and cool at nearly 12,000 feet. zooming in on the map are the tight curves on the approaches to high passes as the road ladders its way up to the saddle and then down the other side. The roads are lined with evergreens, rock formations, and sweeping vistas. It’ s best to keep one’ s eyes on the road
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