Autumn Beauty Along Cottonwood Pass

On the second day of our stay at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort—click here to read about the resort—we decided to drive to the nearby Cottonwood Pass. 

Cottonwood Pass is a 56.8-mile stretch of paved, winding mountain road connecting Buena Vista and Almont, Colorado. It summits at the continental divide (at 12,126 ft elevation) and features some of Colorado’s best hiking trails, campsites, and mountain vistas
It's a stunning mountain pass known for its colorful fall aspen groves, and we hoped to still be able to catch some autumn color during our drive.

Cottonwood Pass is in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. The road over Cottonwood Pass is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in the U.S. The area surrounding the pass is mostly forest, with the San Isabel National Forest to the east and the Gunnison National Forest to the west.

It was the second time we drove over Cottonwood Pass--click here-- to see that late summer drive where we followed the pass all the way to its end in Almont

We were thrilled to see that the autumn colors were still vibrant! Bright patches of orange and rust foliage mingled beautifully with the golden aspens.

 Clouds were building up and a few raindrops fell at times and we drove along the winding road.

More bright colors!

\\

We passed some very tall aspens and many cottonwood trees.

As we drove higher there were more pine trees and scrub brush.

Eventually, we were above the tree line

We parked for a while at the summit and seeing heavy clouds and sleety snow that began to fall, we decided not to drive further but to return to Nathrop.

We did take the obligatory photo of the summit sign!

Driving back down...

...passing the autumn scenery from the other direction

Passing a lake area as we approached Buena Visita.

A last look back at the mountain peak we just drove down from.

Looking at the mountain range in the distance we knew we made the right decision to turn back, as heavy clouds were in that area and it was probably raining or snowing at the higher elevation. Because of high snowfall, Cottonwood Pass closes for the winter, usually in November, and reopens in May

Later that evening we drove to the charming town of Salida for dinner--on my next post

Please join me again on my blog next week!

Instagram  Facebook 

Pinterest

I'm linking with:

 Mosaic Monday, Hello Monday, Through My Lens Monday, Hearth, and Soul Link Party, Anything Goes Monday, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Nature Notes, Home Matters Linky Party, Ducks in a Row, Good Random Fun, Tuesdays With A Twist, Talk About It Tuesday, The Happy Now Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday,  Wordless Wednesday 2, Wednesday My Corner of the World, Wonderful Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Skywatch Friday, Generic Link Up, Fantastic Friday, Saturday Sparks, Saturday Critters, Sunday on Silverado, Sunday Photo

Cottonwood Pass, the Second Highest Paved Mountain Pass in America

This is the view we had from our hotel window in Buena Vista, Colorado of a few of the Collegiate Peaks in the Sawatch Mountain Range in Central Colorado last October. We were excited to hear that the nearby Cottonwood Pass had reopened in September after being closed for three years of extensive road work.  At 12,126 feet elevation, it became the second-highest paved mountain pass in the United States after Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park which is at 12,183 feet elevation.  We decided to take a scenic drive over the pass all the way from Buena Vista to Crested Butte.

My husband has driven us over many Colorado mountain passes after we moved to Colorado seven years ago.  I usually sit next to him as he drives as I like to take photos.  I might be leaving some mountain passes out, but here's a list of those we driven over so far with highlighted links to a blog post about them:  Hoosier Pass, Loveland Pass, Guanella Pass, Independence Pass,  McClure Pass, Berthoud Pass,  Rabbit Ears Pass, Kebler Pass, Monarch Pass, Kenosha Pass, Raton Pass between New Mexico and Colorado,  Red Mountain Pass on The Million Dollar Highway, Pagosa Pass, La Veta Pass, and Vail Pass.  All are beautiful!  Cottonwood Pass is at a high elevation so it is closed for winter, usually, from November to May when there can be twenty-five feet or more of snow in the mountains!

It took three years, around $34 million, and some 90 pieces of road-building equipment to re-engineer the 31 mile Cottonwood Pass and make it a safe and beautifully scenic road--CR 306 on the Chaffee County side, CR 209 in Gunnison County.  Improvements included two 11-foot paved travel lanes with shoulders, guardrails, protection from rockfall, and additional parking areas at the summit and Denny Creek.

As we drove, we were surrounded by dense forests and mountain views...

...on an asphalt surface of the road that was smooth as glass.

From the eastern side of Cottonwood Pass, it did not take too long to reach the summit.

There is parking at the summit, trails, and a sign showing that we were traveling over the continental divide where water would feed on the eastern side to the Atlantic Ocean, and from the western side to the Pacific Ocean.

The summit vistas were magnificent!

We hiked for a while at the summit to enjoy the "top of the world" views and then continued our drive.

We continued driving on the western portion of Cottonwood Pass...

...and stopped again at Taylor Park Reservoir, at 9,500 feet elevation, to enjoy the view of the Sawatch Mountains in the distance.

We also stopped at the Taylor Park Dam to take photos.

Although autumn of 2019 was delayed by unusually warm weather, the colors here were brighter than in other areas.

The Taylor River was particularly pretty.

There were many ranches in this area around Almont,  Colorado, which was very evident by all the cattle we saw freely strolling around near the road...

...and even on the road!

They did not have a care in the world!

We finally reached Crested Butte.  I've blogged about this colorful ski town in the past--click here and here.  On this visit, it began to rain! We had lunch in town and continued on to travel back to Buena Vista but this time on Monarch Pass--my next post!

You can also find me on 

Instagram Twitter Facebook 
Pinterest

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

 Mosaic Monday, All Seasons, Blue Monday, Through My Lens Monday, Little Cottage Link Party, 
 Hearth, and Soul Link Party, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Inspire Me Monday,  Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Travel Photos, Photo Tunes, Happiness Is Homemade, Over the Moon, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Turn About. Tuesdays With A Twist, Let's Keep In Touch, Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday, Say Cheese!,  Party in Your PJ's, Wordless Wednesday, Nanahood WW, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Worldless  Wednesday My Corner of the World, Wonderful Wednesday,  Little Things Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Thursday Encouraging Hearts and Home, Full Plate Thursday, Friendship Fridays, Friday Features Linky Party, Skywatch Friday, Funtastic Friday,  Pink Saturday, Saturday Critters, 

 Grammys Grid-Month Long Linky Party