Guanella Pass 11,669 feet

   St. Mary's Glacier

   Between 14er's

For a quick experience of the Rocky Mountain eco-systems, you could hardly find a better tour. This winding and rugged road leap-frogs the steep divide between the South Platte and Clear Creek watersheds, passing through a succession of distinct environments. The lower elevations are green and wet, thick stands of spruce, fir, aspen, and pine rising along cascading creeks. Higher up, the streams snake through broad meadows, succoring thirsty mammals, nesting birds, and the industrious beaver. The road crests well above timberline, where every spring the grasses and flowers stubbornly renew, and the fragile tundra thaws and blossoms. This old logging and mining area flanked by Mounts Bierstadt and Evans, two of Colorado's 14,000+ foot giants, boasts two of the state's best-preserved Victorian towns, Georgetown and Silver Plume. Georgetown is one of Colorado’s most visited Victorian towns, an attractive, turn-of-the-twentieth-century gem that charms the visitor with its Victorian gingerbread-style houses, flagstone sidewalks, and aura of the bygone gold-rush era. The historic and scenic 28-mile paved and gravel high mountain route across Guanella Pass starts from here. Guanella Pass is an unforgettable experience, especially in September when the route abounds in golden-leaf of Fall Aspens. The road trails between 14,000-foot peaks over 11,669-foot Guanella Pass, where the trailhead for Mt Bierstadt, the 39th highest peak of Colorado, begins, an option available for the most adventurous. From here it is downhill to Grant and the South Platte and the winding roads back to Denver.