Imogene Pass is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

in the southwest part of the US state of

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 ...

. It crosses a ridge connecting

Ouray, Colorado Ouray () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 1,000 as of the 2010 census. The Ouray Post Office has the ZIP Code 81427. Located at an elevation of , Ouray's clim ...

with

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The first ...

, and is the highest mountain pass in the San Juan Mountains, and the second highest vehicular mountain crossing in

. The road is accessible by

four wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

vehicles, and is not for the novice driver. From Ouray, the road turns off the road to Yankee Boy Basin above the

Camp Bird Mine The Camp Bird Mine is a famous and highly productive old gold mine located between Ouray and Telluride, Colorado. The mine is within the Sneffels-Red Mountain-Telluride mining district in the San Juan Mountains. It was discovered by Thomas ...

near the

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

of Sneffels southwest of Ouray, and climbs through Imogene Basin to the summit. From Telluride, the road takes off north of downtown and climbs past the

Tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

through Savage Basin to the summit. The first long distance

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy across large distances. It consists of one or more uninsulated electrical cables (commonly multiples of three for three-p ...

was constructed over Imogene Pass to carry power from the Telluride area to the

. "

Fort Peabody Fort Peabody was a military post in southwestern Colorado, situated at 13,365 feet elevation on the county line between Ouray and San Miguel Counties, making it the highest historical post of its kind in the United States. It was added to the Natio ...

" was constructed in 1904 by a local unit of the

Colorado National Guard The Colorado National Guard consists of the Colorado Army National Guard and Colorado Air National Guard, forming the state of Colorado's component to the United States National Guard. Founded in 1860, the Colorado National Guard falls under t ...

on top of the pass to prevent union miners from crossing during a labor strike. An annual foot race is held over the pass between Ouray and Telluride on the first Saturday following

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

. The grueling race starts at around {{cvt, 7800, ft before cresting the pass at its peak, an elevation gain of just over a mile.

External links

Treknow.com: Map of the Imogene Pass area of the San Juan Mountains

USGS TopoZone.com listing for Imogene Pass
Mountain passes of Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Landforms of Ouray County, Colorado Landforms of San Miguel County, Colorado Roads in Ouray County, Colorado Transportation in San Juan County, Colorado Uncompahgre National Forest