U.S. Route 34 (US 34) is a part of the

U.S. Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

that travels from Granby, Colorado, to Berwyn, Illinois. In the U.S. 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 ...

, US 34 is a road that spans across northern Colorado. It begins at

US 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

in Granby and ends at the Nebraska border, where it continues as US 34, east of Laird.

Route description

Rocky Mountain NP, Road 34 - Rainbow Curve - panoramio

Granby to Rocky Mountain National Park

The route begins in Granby at

. It then follows the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

Valley near

Granby Lake Granby may refer to: Places Canada *Port Granby, Ontario *Granby, Quebec ** Granby (electoral district), a Quebec electoral district whose territory is identical to that of the city **Challenger de Granby, a tennis tournament United States *Granby ...

and enters Arapaho National Recreational Area.

Trail Ridge Road

After entering

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and ...

in Colorado's Front Range, US 34 follows the

North Fork Colorado River North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

through

Kawuneeche Valley Kawuneeche Valley, also known as Kawuneeche or Coyote Valley, is a marshy valley of the Colorado River near its beginning. It is located on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The axis of the valley runs almost directly no ...

. It passes over

Milner Pass Milner Pass, elevation is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States. It is located on the continental divide in the Front Range, within Rocky Mountain National Park, along the boundary between Larimer an ...

and reaches the

Alpine Visitor Center Rocky Mountain National Park's Alpine Visitor Center is located at 11,796 feet (3,595 m) above sea level at Fall River Pass, one mile west of the highest point on Trail Ridge Road and four miles east of the Continental Divide at Milner Pass in ...

. Then it continues east, passing its highest point at 12,183 feet near Fall River Pass. It exits the park at

US 36 U.S. Route 36 (US 36) is an east–west United States highway that travels approximately from Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado to Uhrichsville, Ohio. The highway's western terminus is at Deer Ridge Junction, an intersection in ...

at Deer Ridge Junction. US 34 here is the highest continuous highway in the United States. This section of US 34 requires a $30 national park entrance fee, making this segment into a toll road.

Estes Park to Loveland

From here, it passes by

Estes Park Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corr ...

, has a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

, and then continues east through

Big Thompson Canyon The Big Thompson River is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 78 miles (123 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado. Originating in Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park, the river flows into Lake Estes in the town ...

before entering Loveland as Eisenhower Boulevard, becoming a four-lane expressway. Here, it intersects I-25 and

U.S. Highway 287 U.S. Route 287 (US 287) is a north–south (physically northwest–southeast) United States highway. At long, it is the second longest three-digit U.S. Route, behind US 281. It serves as the major truck route between Fort Worth and Ama ...

Greeley to Nebraska border

At Greeley, it passes by U.S. Highway 85 in a complex interchange and U.S. 34 Business, and crosses the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sout ...

. It also has an interchange with SH 257. From here, it is no longer an expressway. It intersects SH 144 and SH 39, then joins

I-76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular c ...

Wiggins Team Wiggins Le Col (), also known as ''Team Wiggins'' in media, was a professional developmental cycling team based in the United Kingdom, which began competing in elite road bicycle racing and track cycling in 2015. The team folded at the e ...

. It leaves, and follows the

North Fork Republican River The North Fork Republican River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 29, 2011 tributary of the Republican River. It flows eastward from a source in Yuma County, Colo ...

east into Nebraska, where it intersects SH 71, SH 52, SH 63, SH 61, SH 59, and

U.S. Highway 385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

History

Parts of the route were originally designated as US 38. US 34 was extended into Colorado in 1939.

Major intersections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:U.S. Route 34 In Colorado 34 Colorado Transportation in Grand County, Colorado Transportation in Larimer County, Colorado Transportation in Weld County, Colorado Transportation in Morgan County, Colorado Transportation in Washington County, Colorado Transportation in Yuma County, Colorado