Black Bear Road or Black Bear Pass, and officially Forest Service Road 648, is a

dirt road A dirt road or track is a type of unpaved road not paved with asphalt, concrete, brick, or stone; made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Dirt roads are suitable ...

that starts from the summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 (between Ouray and Silverton) to Telluride,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The road crests at Black Bear Pass, elevation , and descends over a set of switchbacks as it navigates the heights above Telluride. The road passes Bridal Veil Falls, the highest

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

. In 1975, the road was the subject of a spoken-word song and

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

of the same title by

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

musician

C. W. McCall William Dale Fries Jr. (November 15, 1928 – April 1, 2022) was an American advertising executive and spoken word artist who won several Clio Awards for his advertising campaigns. He is best known for his character C. W. McCall, a truck-drivi ...

Black Bear Road is open a few months of the year, from late summer (usually the last week of July) to early fall. The road is traveled only downhill from Red Mountain Pass — except for the annual Jeeper's Jamboree in which travel is reversed for one day only. The start of the trail was formerly marked along U.S. 550 with a sign that read: After repeated thefts of the sign, the local authorities stopped replacing it.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Narrowgauge.org: The Infamous Black Bear Road
— '' article with a collection of photographs''.

- ''with seasonal road open/closed listing''. Roads in Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Transportation in San Juan County, Colorado Transportation in San Miguel County, Colorado Uncompahgre National Forest