Top of the Rockies Byway
Let's take a few minutes to travel virtually along another one of Colorado's amazing scenic byways. The Top of the Rockies route is a slightly crooked "Y" shape totaling about 150 miles, and nearly all its length is above 9,000 feet.
If you travel from Aspen, known for its sky-high housing prices (basically, if your net worth is less than $15 million, don't even think about it), through Twin Lakes and north to Leadville, the highest incorporated city in the US at 10,150 feet, you've traveled the base of the Y's crooked
longest leg. When you get to Leadville, the road splits: you can travel northwest toward Minturn and Dowd on Highway 24 or go northeast toward Copper Mountain on Highway 91; both spurs terminate at Interstate 70.
Along the way, you'll enjoy views of at least six 14ers, with several more in the area that are
not specifically marked on the scenic byway maps; those include La Plata Peak (14,344 feet), which makes an occasional appearance along Independence Pass. The 14ers featured on the byway map I used include Mt. Elbert, the highest point in Colorado at 14,440 feet; Mt. Massive, the second highest at 14,428 feet; Mt. Lincoln, 14,293 feet; Quandary Peak, 14,271 feet; Mt. Democrat, 14,155 feet; and Mount of the Holy Cross at 14,011 feet. The latter was named for the snowfield that once formed a cross shape year-round on its northeastern face. However, due to climate change, that permanent snowfield had completely melted by 2009, and now the 'cross' is visible only after snowfall.
The Continental Divide follows the highest ridgetops, with all three passes on the byway crossing over it. The highest is the impressive Independence Pass, soaring to an elevation of
12,095 feet near the ghost town of Independence. Next is Fremont Pass, standing at 11,318 feet along the Copper Mountain leg of the Y, while the lowest of the trio is Tennessee Pass, at a still-notable 10,424 feet, near the historic Camp Hale National Monument, on the northwestern leg of the byway. This remarkable alignment of elevations is precisely why the byway is aptly named Top of the Rockies!
The entire length of the byway is steeped in historical significance. Originally Ute territory, the native people were relocated to the arid regions of southwestern Colorado and Utah, lands unfamiliar to them. Many of Colorado's "parks," such as North Park, High Park, and South Park, served as Ute hunting and gathering grounds for centuries. From the mid-1860s, rich deposits of gold, lead, silver, molybdenum, iron, and zinc were uncovered in or near Leadville, Climax, Twin Lakes, and several now-ghost towns, including Independence and Gilman. Some estimates suggest that the value of ores extracted from the Leadville vicinity in the late 1880s would be nearly $500 billion in today's currency. However,
many mines were exhausted within just a few years, forcing hundreds to seek new opportunities elsewhere.
The Climax Mine, straddling the Continental Divide along Fremont Pass, once produced nearly three-quarters of the world's molybdenum supply. Today, the mine encompasses more than 14,000 acres and has the capacity to produce around 30 million pounds of molybdenum annually. This ore is used in a number of industrial applications, including to strengthen steel and cast iron, as a refining catalyst, and as a lubricant.
Gilman was established during the silver mining boom in 1886, and later became a center for lead and zinc mining. The town was developed as a company town by the mine owner to keep workers at the site, and beginning in 1912, the New Jersey Zinc Company purchased
the townsite, along with all principal mines nearby. This company kept the mines in operation for several decades; about 300 people lived in Gilman in the 1960s. However, by 1984, it was completely abandoned and the mine was closed; 235 acres and eight million tons of toxic mine waste were designated an EPA Superfund site.
For the infrastructure afficionados, the Red Cliff Bridge near Minturn is the only cantilevered steel arch bridge in Colorado. Built in 1940, it was difficult work for the construction crews. They had to be lifted 200 feet into the air on a highline, taking their lunch with them; they remained on suspended scaffolds for the entire work day, often working in temperatures as
low as zero degrees F. The bridge crosses over the Eagle River, the former Union Pacific railroad track, and a county road, and is used by daily traffic on Highway 24. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and was extensively restored during 2004.
Camp Hale, mentioned earlier, was a US Army training facility that was used by the 10th Mountain Division during World War II. This light infantry division was the only one of its size to receive specialized mountain training. At its peak, around 14,000 personnel were stationed there. Training included high-altitude acclimation (the camp sits at 9,200 feet), Nordic and Alpine ski training, mountain- and rock-climbing training, and 'tactical conditions training' that included survival skills with no fires in sub-zero temperatures. However, the latter was discontinued after only three weeks due to nearly 200 cases of frostbite and 340 other incapacitating injuries. The division, although subject to multiple revisions and changes over the years, is credited with having had a significant influence on skiing as a vacation industry and sport. Many individuals who were part of the 10th Mountain Division went on to make names for
themselves in other endeavors, too. The original training ground was decommissioned in late 1945; the National Monument was created in 2022.
The overall high elevations in this area can diminish the apparent heights of the mountains. For example, in my photo of Mt. Massive above, it may not appear as prominent over the valley floor as one might expect from a 14er. This is because the valley floor lies at more than 9,000 feet south of the mountain and rises to more than 10,000 feet at Leadville, just a short distance north. Mt. Massive itself is quite impressive, with an imposing base and five summits, all exceeding 14,000 feet. The summit ridge is longer than three miles.
On the other hand, due to dramatically steep slopes and narrow valleys, some shorter 12,000- and 13,000-foot mountains can seem to have much higher prominences. This view, above right, was taken from a turnout on a switchback curve, looking toward 13,646-foot Mt. Champion. The drop-off at the edge of the turnout was a little
scary; I could all too easily visualize slipping and rolling dozens, or even hundreds, of feet down before landing in the forest below. It reminds me of a sign we saw along the way advertising five acres for sale. What the sign didn't say was that 4 1/2 acres of the land appeared to be at a 70-degree angle!
Avalanche chutes can also be gigantic and there are a number of them along this byway. The one pictured here is the westernmost of four sizable chutes found within a mile of the ghost town of Independence. The bases of all four reached the Roaring Fork River, visible near the bottom of the photo above (and yes, most rivers in Colorado would only qualify as creeks in many other states!). The damage avalanches leave behind can be visible for decades.
Along with all its other superlatives, the biodiversity along this byway is impressive. Habitats range from alpine to sub-alpine tundra, thick evergreen forests, and montane and riverine environments. The most memorable wildflowers we've seen along the byway include Rocky Mountain columbines (Aquilegia coerulea), Whipple's beardtongue
(Penstemon whippleanus), tall fringed bluebells (Mertensia ciliata), and pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea). (Okay, I admit I might have picked a couple of these because their Latin names are a bit fun, too.) There are many more plants I haven't identified or that I haven't managed to photograph yet, but I keep trying!
I enjoyed doing the research for this post, and would certainly appreciate hearing your thoughts. Let me know in the Comments, or contact me Here.
This summer went away far too fast, and HOT! I'm not used to so many hot and humid days in row as we experienced from June - August. When it's like that, my personal preference is to hibernate someplace relatively cool -- and my disposition certainly becomes bearish, too! It means I did NOT accomplish all the things I promised in earlier posts, so I'm trying to catch up now and through the rest of the month. As always, I'm so grateful to all of you who read my posts and who follow me on social media. And don't forget that supporting an independent artist (with an off-kilter take on life) is a great way to add unique art to your personal spaces! Shop Art
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