Loveland 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 and animal migr ...

in north-central

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 the ...

, at an elevation of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

Background

It is located on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not c ...

in the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

, west of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

on U.S. Highway 6 (US 6). The twisty road is considered to be especially treacherous during the winter months. A steep, steady 6.7% grade, along with numerous

hairpin turn A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...

s on either side, make it difficult to snowplow the road regularly. The pass is named for

William A.H. Loveland William Austin Hamilton Loveland (May 30, 1826 – 1894) was a U.S. railroad entrepreneur and businessman in the late 19th century. An early resident of Golden when it was the capital of the Colorado Territory, he was one of the founders o ...

, the president of the Colorado Central Railroad and a resident of Golden during the late 19th century. The city of Loveland, in Larimer County near Fort Collins, is also named after him. Loveland held a railroad charter and was an advocate for a wagon road between Denver and Leadville. In 1869, he opened this section of wagon road now known as Loveland Pass. It would be abandoned in 1906 and then restored for vehicle use in 1920 by the U.S. forest Service. Loveland is the highest mountain pass in Colorado that regularly stays open during a snowy winter season. When the Eisenhower Tunnel opened in March 1973, it allowed motorists on

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

(I-70) to avoid crossing the pass directly. Trucks that cannot pass through the tunnel (those carrying

hazardous materials Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...

and those over in height) must still take US 6 across Loveland Pass, above the tunnel. The same is true for bicyclists, pedestrians, and those drivers who wish to stop along the road to admire the scenery. Loveland Ski Area is located north west of the pass, and Arapahoe Basin is on the south/southeast side. The pass itself is a popular destination for backcountry skiers. Occasionally during the winter, the pass road may be closed by a blizzard and all traffic must use the tunnel, even the normally forbidden vehicles carrying hazardous materials. In the event of less serious winter storms,

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. ...

restrictions are often imposed. At the Loveland Pass parking lot, visitors can access trails to the summits of Mount Sniktau and other nearby mountain peaks.

Incidents

Plane crash

On a clear Friday in early October 1970, a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

occurred about north of the summit, and only nine of the 40 on board survived. The plane carried members of the Wichita State University football team, as well as coaches, administrators, and boosters. The cause was attributed to several

pilot error Pilot error generally refers to an accident in which an action or decision made by the pilot was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes the pilot's failure to make a correct decision or take proper a ...

Avalanche

On April 20, 2013, an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and ea ...

at Loveland Pass killed five snowboarders in the deadliest avalanche in Colorado since 1962. A sixth snowboarder involved in the incident survived, and was extracted by a search and rescue team.

References

External links