The Continental Divide, Hoosier Pass, Alma, and South Park Colorado

A few posts ago I took you for a photo tour ride with me on Interstate 70 from our home in the foothills in Colorado up to the ski resort area of Breckenridge-click here to read that post. Today I will take you a different, more scenic, less traffic route my husband and I like to take on our return to our home.  We begin by traveling on State Highway 9, picking it up in Breckenridge.

Just look at the view!

It passes over the Hoosier Pass, elevation 11,539 feet, where we also pass over the Continental Divide, which divides how water flows from the mountains--on the East towards the Atlantic Ocean and West towards the Pacific Ocean.

Double click on the photo above to enlarge it in order to read some history about Hoosier Pass. You can also read about its earlier history as a Ute Indian route on this History Colorado page

Some informational placards at the pass parking area about the White River area. As you can see this area gets lots of snow in winter!

Some views of the mountain peaks from the pass

Driving on, we pass through, Alma, North America's highest incorporated town at an altitude of 10,578 feet.  Founded in 1873, it's population is 275 people.

It is a tiny town surrounded by old gold and silver mines, bristlecone pine trees and five fourteen thousand foot high mountains: Mt. Sherman (14,007 feet), Mt. Bross (14,172 feet), Mt. Democrat (14,148 feet), and Mt. Cameron (14,238 feet). You can read about the history of this once bustling mining area on the town's web page.

A view of some of those 14 thousand foot high mountains!

Soon, we could see US Route 285 in the distance--we would be taking this road a good portion of the way home.

Route 285 passes through the town of Fairplay and the historic South Park City site, then reaches its highest elevation of 10,051 feet at the summit of Red Pass.

The South Park Basin always amazes me! 

This flat, grassland basin has an elevation of almost 10,000 feet!  You can see how it is rimmed by the Rocky Mountains in all directions. In 2009, South Park and the area around Fairplay were designated a National Heritage Area by the US Congress for its distinctive landscapes. historic structures, and recreational resources. This area is also known as the Trout Fishing Capital of Colorado, full of gold medal streams and rivers.

There are many large ranches in the basin and we could see cattle grazing where the wind had blown away the snow.

US 285 then leaves the South Park basin and climbs over Kenosha Pass, elevation 10,001 feet.

It then passes the south side of Mount Evans as it descends its way through the foothills range towards Denver.

Along the way, near the town of Bailey, we passed the Coney Island Boardwalk hot dog stand!  What an unexpected sight--it gave this Brooklyn, NY girl a pang of nostalgia. We stopped to see if they were open, but unfortunately, they were still closed for the season.  We will definitely go back one day this summer!

We soon passed by some beautiful homes in the foothills in the town of Morrison......

....and past the colorful "Dinosaur Ridge" area.

We now enter Colorado State Highway 470 east, and head home.

Whenever I see this little red barn along the highway I know we are close to home.  I hope you enjoyed viewing the trip we take when we go up into the higher elevations of Colorado and all the beautiful sights along the way!