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Trail Ridge is located in Rocky
Mountain National Park just west of
Estes
Park Village. Loveland Colorado is the closest big town just 35
miles east of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Loveland is at the mouth of
the Big Thompson Canyon and river. This River starts at the very top of
the divide just south of Trail Ridge Road. At Milner Pass where the road
crosses the continental divide is the headwaters of the Poudre River
which goes through Fort Collins Colorado on it's way to the South Platte
River near Greeley Colorado.
On the western side of the divide
you can walk up the Colorado River all the way to the headwaters. This
is of course no easy feat for it is many rugged miles to the start of
the mighty Colorado which most of the west depends on for their water
supply. Trail Ridge is the
highest contiguous highway in the US and tops out at over two miles high
at 12,183. The pull off called rock cut is at 12,178 feet. The road
opened in 1932 to replace
Fall River
Road which is still in operation as a one way dirt track. This dirt
track in my opinion is the best drive in Colorado.
Trail Ridge opens on Memorial Day
and usually closes around Labor Day or after depending on the weather.
Snow can fall at the top on any day of the year and at 12,000 feet
winter can come fast, hard and early.
The best part of this road is if
you travel at night you can see the stars and galaxies like few other
places in America. There are no city lights or any lights for that
matter to interfere with your vision. Keep your eyes open for the large
elk herds which inhabit this area during the summer time. You might be
lucky enough to get an up close and personal look at some very large
bull elk which live here.
Below you can see a Google map of the road from the eastern entrance at
Estes park over the
top to the western side and the Village of Grand Lake. |
