Road trip guide: Conquering Denver Pass in CO

Denver Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 3.660m (12,007ft) above the sea level located in San Juan County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. It’s one of thehighest roads of Colorado.

Denver Pass

Set high in the San Juan Mountains, the road to the summit is totally unpaved. It’s called County Do not travel this road in severe weather conditions. The road is totally impassable from November to May. A four-wheel drive vehicle is required.

The road to the summit is very steep, hitting a 10% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps. Starting at Animas Forks, a ghost town, the ascent is 3.37km (2.1 miles) long. Over this distance the elevation gain is 237 meters. The average gradient is 7.03%.