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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Escapes -> Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways
 Colorado’s
Scenic and Historic Byways
By Niki Hayden
Gas prices continue to climb. So driving a
distance requires careful thought. Still, one of summer's greatest pleasures is getting away
from it all. How about a short road trip? One that’s filled with gorgeous scenery and
perhaps historic significance. Make that trip close to home and you’ve
discovered a Colorado treasure: our scenic and historic byways. An
official commission chooses roadways based on a special feature: the scenic
surroundings or a link to history, like the old Santa Fe Trail. All are
beautiful. Many will be near you. And while the
choices range from the west to the east of the state, the following are
available on the Front Range. When you're driving, look for the blue sign with a columbine flower on each scenic byway.
BOULDER: Peak-to-Peak links
Estes Park to Blackhawk/Central City. From Estes, take highway 7 through
Allenspark where you’ll continue on highway 72. You’ll drive through
Nederland and continue to Blackhawk/Central City. The distance is 55 miles.
Peak-to-Peak is the old scenic byway and one that allows views of the
Continental Divide, Rocky Mountain National Park, Golden Gate Canyon State Park,
the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests, and Indian Peaks Wilderness. In
autumn, this byway fills with leaf lookers who pull into overlook roadside
areas. So drive with caution and take a camera, pack a lunch and consider a few
gravel offshoots to the old town of Hesse or the resort of Gold Lake.
IDAHO SPRINGS: Mount Evans not only provides astonishing scenery, but the
road can be stomach churning, too. This byway reaches 7,000 feet in 28 miles,
where you’ll find yourself at 14,264 feet. Besides the alpine wildflowers, you’ll
see mountain goats at roadside, chomping at tender plants or heading toward the
visitor’s center at the top of the mountains. Take I-70 to Idaho Springs, turn
onto highway 103, continue through Echo Lake, where you’ll be on highway 5 and
weave your way to the top of Mount Evans. The weather is unpredictable. Calm
conditions in Idaho Springs may give way to snow and sleet on the mountain.
Bring warm clothes and watch for lightening. One way is 28 miles.
GEORGETOWN: Guanella Pass begins at Georgetown, on I-70, threads its way
through Guanella Pass and ends at Grant on highway 285 for about 22 miles.
Highway 285 is scenic, too, but not listed as an official byway. From montane to
subalpine to alpine, the pass through Guanella is mainly scenic, unlike other
byways that are used for commuting as well as touring. But Georgetown and Silver
Plume, two old mining towns that still have flourishing communities, are worth a
stop, too.
FORT COLLINS: Cache la Poudre-North Park stretches from Fort Collins to
Walden on Highway 14 through Cameron Pass. This 101-mile drive takes you through
willow meadows alongside the Cache la Poudre River canyon. Walden is a prime
wildlife viewing area with waterfowl, elk, moose and beaver—all within the
Colorado State Forest area, which encompasses 70,000 acres. If you love to fish,
take a pole, and your fishing license. You’ll find plenty of pull-offs for
picnics.
CANON CITY: Roads from Canon City to Florissant cover old gold mining towns,
fossil areas and remarkable scenery. For 131 miles, you’ll pass places where
dinosaur bones have been discovered, where miners panned for gold in the 1890s
and the Beaver Creek wilderness Study Area as well as Royal Gorge, Florissant
Fossil Beds national Monument and the Garden Park Dinosaur Fossil Area. Begin at
Florence on highway 115 and head north on Phantom Canyon Road to Victor.
Continue to Cripple Creek and then head north to Florissant. Backtrack from
Florissant and turn onto High Park Road, which will end in Canon City. There’s
a 4-wheel drive road called Upper Shelf, but it’s best to avoid if you don’t
have a tough vehicle, or if the weather is inclement. No vehicles over 25-feet
long are allowed on Phantom Canyon Road.
PUEBLO: Frontier Pathways is nearly a loop from Pueblo to Westcliffe and
Colorado City. Originally, this pathway linked the Utes, Spanish and American
explores, ranchers and gold miners from the mountains and ranchland to Pueblo
and the Santa Fe Trail. Most extraordinary are the exquisite valleys that lead
to Westcliffe. Take Highway 96 from Pueblo to Wetmore; continue west to
Westcliffe. Back track from Westcliffe, turning south onto 165 and end at
Colorado City. Of course, to return to Pueblo, you can choose I-25 directly to
where you began. From Pueblo to Colorado City via this route is 103 miles.
WALSENBURG: A semi-circle from Walsenburg to Trinidad is knows as the Highway
of Legends. It circles the Spanish Peaks, more or less, and for quite a ways,
follows the beginnings of the Purgatoire River, which flows east to the Comanche
Grasslands. But here, you’ll be in its headwaters as it leaves the Sangre de
Cristos and Spanish Peaks to wind through the San Isabelle National Forest.
Leave Walsenburg, heading west on 160. You’ll be driving toward the Great Sand
Dunes National Park. But before you get that far, Highway 12 falls away and
heads toward La Veta. For 82 miles, you circle the Peaks, arriving in Trinidad.
There are spectacular rock formations as well as pristine valleys.
TRINIDAD: From Trinidad to Bent’s Old Fort, follow what once was the Santa
Fe Trail. Exit Trinidad on Highway 350 going east. At La Junta, pick up Highway
50 going east. Before you reach Las Animas, you’ll see signs to Bent’s Old
Fort, a marvelous recreation of the original adobe fort. Either choose to end
your journey at the Fort or continue on the Santa Fe Trail, as this byway is
called, to east through Las Animas and Lamar to the Comanche Grasslands. The
entire length is 184 miles. Take plenty of water in the summer, Colorado’s
southeast is hot and dry.
ESTES PARK: Can’t stand the summer heat a minute longer? Trail Ridge Road
in the Rocky Mountain National Park will cool you off. This alpine highway is
closed most of the year. But come summer it’s a tourist attraction and a cool
day’s drive. You’ll be at 12,183 feet with wildflowers in bloom and patches
of ice and snow from last winter. For all 48 miles, drive slowly and don’t
miss a thing. Begin in Estes Park, through Rocky Mountain National Park to Deer
Ridge, continuing around the semi-circle to Grand Lake. Trail Ridge ends at
Grand Lake but you can continue on Highway 34 to Grandby. The road closes
mid-October and there’s no gas station on the entire byway.
GOLDEN: Lariat Loop, as this byway is named, makes a complete loop beginning
at Golden, heading west on Highway 6 to Lookout Mountain Road. It heads toward
Bergen Park on Highway 74, through Evergreen to Idledale and Morrison. From
Morrison, take County Road 93 to Golden. You’ll pass Red Rocks Park, Dinosaur
Ridge (a must stop for dinosaur lovers of all ages), Buffalo Bill Museum and
Grave and the exquisite setting of Lookout Mountain Road. It’s 40 miles and
there’s plenty of stopping points.
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