The Top of the Rockies National Scenic Byway is a

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

and

Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways are highway and backroad routes in the U.S. state of Colorado designated by the Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways Commission for their scenic and historic values. These byways follow existing roads or highwa ...

located in the high

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 in ...

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, Pitkin, Summit counties,

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 ...

, United States. The byway showcases the two highest peaks of the

Mount Elbert Mount Elbert is the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains, the highest point in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the second-highest summit in the contiguous United States (after Mount Whitney). The ultra-prominent fourteener is the highest peak ...

at elevation and

Mount Massive Mount Massive is the second-highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener of the Sawatch Range is located in the Mount Massive Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, west ...

at elevation . The byway connects with the

Collegiate Peaks Scenic Byway The Collegiate Peaks Scenic Byway is a Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Chaffee and Lake counties, Colorado, US. The Byway follows the upper Arkansas River past the Collegiate Peaks, featuring eight of the highest peaks in the Roc ...

at the junction of

Colorado State Highway 82 State Highway 82 (SH 82) is an state highway in the U.S. state of Colorado. Its western half provides the principal transportation artery of the Roaring Fork Valley on the Colorado Western Slope, beginning at Interstate 70 (I-70) and U.S. Hi ...

and U.S. Highway 24. The byway has two northern extensions. The northwestern extension extends from the historic mining town of

Leadville The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

over Tennessee Pass to

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

near Minturn. The northeastern extension extends from Leadville over Fremont Pass to I-70 at Copper Mountain. The two extensions can be driven together as a tour from I-70 to Leadville and back to I-70. The byway crosses the Continental Divide at Independence Pass at elevation, Fremont Pass at elevation, and Tennessee Pass at elevation. Independence Pass is closed from October to May. The

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...

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'' ...

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

is a historic townsite west of Independence Pass. The

Leadville Historic District The Leadville Historic District is in the mining town of Leadville, Colorado. The National Historic Landmark District includes 67 mines in the mining district east of the city up to the 12,000 foot (3658 m) level, and a defined portion of the vi ...

is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

History Colorado History Colorado is a historical society that was established in 1879 as the State Historical Society of Colorado, also known as the Colorado Historical Society. History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) organization and an agency of the State of Colorado un ...

operates the

Healy House Museum Healy House Museum was the Leadville, Colorado home built in 1878 by mining engineer and city father August R. Meyer for his bride, Emma. It was purchased in 1888 by Daniel Healy (1857-1912), who operated a boarding house with his cousin Nell ...

and

Dexter Cabin Dexter Cabin was the Leadville, Colorado home and hunting lodge of James V. Dexter, a mining investor and businessman. Although it is a cabin, the interior has been described as "surprisingly plush," "elegantly finished," and "incredibly orna ...

. The City of Leadville is the highest incorporated city in North America with a downtown elevation of . __TOC__

Route description

The byway starts in

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

, traveling on east over Independence Pass and near the Twin Lakes to just north of the town of

Granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

. The route then continues north on through

(I-70). A spur of the byway continues along the entire length of from Leadville to Copper Mountain, through Fremont Pass.

Major intersections

Main route

Fremont Pass route

Gallery

File:DowntownLeadvilleCO.jpg,

Notes

References

External links

Road Trip on the Top of the Rockies Scenic BywayColorado Department of Transportation

Colorado Scenic & Historic Byways Commission
*
Colorado Scenic & Historic Byways

Colorado Travel MapColorado Tourism OfficeHistory ColoradoNational Forest Scenic Byways
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