A couple Short Roads Volume IV
Denver International Airport to Leadville

Thirty thousand feet in the air and it hits you: Is Leadville on that little map they’ll give me at the rental car counter? You look in the seat pocket ahead of where your knees should be. That map with those nice arcs from Chicago to London and New York to Los Angeles on it just won’t do.

There are three routes. One is a worthwhile variation of the first. The first is quickest and the least interesting or challenging.

When you leave DIA, you will be on Peña Boulevard. Stay on it to I-70 West. Do not exit at the sign that says to I-70 at the junction with E-470. This is a scam and will put you on a toll road to I-70. Stay on Peña Boulevard; it’s faster, shorter and free. Head west through North Denver and head up the foothills, down into Idaho Springs, up to the Eisenhower (Straight Creek) Tunnel, down into Silverthorne, Frisco and Officers Gulch to Exit 195, CO 91, the Copper Mountain and Leadville turn off. You will go up again to Fremont Pass (11,318 ft), the Climax Mine (molybdenum) and Leadville. In town, follow the jog over to Harrison Avenue and come on in to the Delaware Hotel. This should take about 2 hours from the time you leave the airport. However, the section of I-70 just west of the airport for about 20 miles can be very slow during rush hour (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM).

A good alternative if you have a little extra time (about 15 minutes extra) is the famous Loveland Pass/US 6 alternative. Before the tunnel, this was one of four (Berthoud (11315 ft) on US 40, Monarch (11312 ft) on US 50 and Wolf Creek (10850 ft) on US 160) high passes on major highways through the Colorado Mountains. Since the tunnel, I-70 has become the main east-west route through Colorado. Stay on I-70 until just before the tunnel and take Exit 216, US 6 West and Loveland Pass. Go up and up, around the hairpins, stay away from the drop-offs, to 11,992 ft. There, you will usually find snow all year. Come down the other side, more hairpins and drop-offs, long straights, Arapahoe Basin ski area (usually closes around July 4^th) and Keystone. This pass is classic, historic and a great drive. Just past Keystone, look for the turnoff to Swan Mountain Road and Breckenridge. It’s a left just before the Dillon Reservoir. This is a nice little cutoff that goes up a hill just south of the Reservoir (the Denver Water Department’s biggest storage unit) and gives nice views of the water. There’s a stoplight at CO 9, turn right. Look for the green and blue “Frisco” sign. There is a light soon after with various signs before it indicating “Frisco Business Loop”, a Bike Path and “Main Street”. Turn left. Follow it out through a number of stop signs to I-70 West. Go through Officers Gulch and exit at CO 91, see above.

Longer in time and distance, but worth it, is this third route. This will take 3 hours from the time you leave the airport without traffic holdups. As above, exit the airport on I-70 West. Go through the Metro area to the point where the road starts to climb up the foothills. Exit (on the right) to C-470 (a two-lane exit). Follow C-470 a few miles to US 285 South. You will then follow Turkey Creek Canyon up into the foothills. Look for Tiny Town which is just that. The scale is one inch to one foot. This road is being widened which is taking some of the fun out of it, but then so does all the traffic. If you catch it without much traffic, it’s still a good drive. Traffic will thin by Pine Junction and Bailey and you will follow the South Platte River to Grant. At Grant, look for the Guanella (11669 ft) Pass road to Georgetown going north. Just past Grant on your right, you will see the outlet labeled “Roberts Tunnel”. This is the outlet for the transmountain diversion bringing water from the Dillon Reservoir to the Denver area. Continue on up over Kenosha (10001 ft) Pass into South Park. Kenosha Pass divides the North and South Forks of the South Platte River and was used by the old Leadville Stage Line before the railroads came through. As you pass Como, look for the Como RoundHouse and the Boreas (11481 ft) Pass road. This lovely gravel road to Breckenridge is the old railroad grade of the grandiose-sounding Colorado, South Park and Pacific Rail Road. This is a popular fall “look at the aspens and railroad ruins” drive. Go up again on Red Hill (9993 ft) Pass into Fairplay. As you come down, you’ll enter South Park again. The South Fork of the South Platte River drains this huge park to the southeast. Continue to US 24 where you will start up Trout Creek (9346 ft) Pass and down the other side toward Buena Vista. At Johnson Corners, stay on US 24 North through Buena Vista to Leadville (see Vol. I). You’ll be on Harrison Avenue when you turn to the North in Leadville. Stop at the Delaware Hotel (on your right) and come in. See you in Leadville.