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 h ...

that travels from

Granby, Colorado The Town of Granby is the Statutory Town that is the most populous municipality in Grand County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 2,079 at the 2020 United States Census. Granby is situated along U.S. Highway 40 in the Middle ...

, to

Berwyn, Illinois Berwyn is a suburban city in Cook County, Illinois, coterminous with Berwyn Township, Cook County, Illinois, Berwyn Civil township, Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township, Cook County, Illinois, Cicero Townshi ...

. In the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, 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 wes ...

, 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 Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

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 watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

Valley near Granby Lake and enters Arapaho National Recreational Area.

Trail Ridge Road

After entering Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado's

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 ...

, US 34 follows the North Fork Colorado River through Kawuneeche Valley. 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 Fall River Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass in northern Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States. It is located in the Front Range, within Rocky Mountain National Park. The pass is traversed by U.S. Highway 34 on Trail R ...

. 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 i ...

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 Cor ...

, has a business route, 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 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

and U.S. Highway 287.

Greeley to Nebraska border

At Greeley, it passes by

U.S. Highway 85 U.S. Route 85 (US 85) is a north–south United States Highway that travels in the Mountain and Northern Plains states of the United States. The southern terminus of the highway is at the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, connecting wi ...

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 Midwest and the American Southwest/ Mountain West. It ...

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

SH 39 The following highways are numbered 39. For a list of roads called ''N39'', see List of N39 roads. Australia * Newell Highway * Goulburn Valley Highway * **Gore Highway **Leichhardt Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 39 * British Columbia High ...

, 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 ...

at Wiggins. 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.

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