The Alpine Loop Back Country Byway is a rugged Back Country Byway and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in the high

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

of Hindale, Ouray, and San Juan counties, Colorado, USA. The byway connects the mountain towns of Lake City, Ouray, and Silverton. The route ranges in elevation from (a mere) in Ouray to at Engineer Pass. The byway features high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

es,

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

, beautiful mountain meadows,

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

s, and relics of the

silver mining Silver mining is the extraction of silver by mining. Silver is a precious metal and holds high economic value. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires the use of complex technologies. In ...

era. While the meadows and tundra are accessible to ordinary passenger vehicles, a high-clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle is required to travel the entire route. The Silverton Historic District and the Shenandoah-Dives (Mayflower) Mill are

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

s. The Alpine Loop connects with the San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway at Ouray and Silverton. __TOC__

Route

The Alpine Loop is generally considered to begin and end at Lake City. From there the route commonly followed is west over Cinnamon Pass or Engineer Pass to Animas Forks, and then returning east back to Lake City. The clockwise circuit starting with Cinnamon Pass generally puts the vehicle on the inside "lane" of the mountainous portions with the driver on the outside, providing a better view of the relative position of the vehicle and the outer edge of the road at the top of the drop-off. The counter-clockwise direction is preferable for less powerful 4-wheel drive vehicles that may have a difficult time ascending steep sections on the western portion of Engineer Pass.

Major intersections

Gallery

File:Engineer pass road, CO.jpg, Along the road to Engineer pass File:Animas Forks shack.jpg, Abandoned building in

Animas Forks Animas Forks is an extinct mining town located northeast of Silverton in San Juan County, Colorado, United States. The area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. At an elevation of , Animas Forks is one of the highest mining camps i ...

, on the Alpine Loop File:Capitol City, Colo.jpg, Capitol City ghost town File:California Gulch Rd, Colo.jpg,

California Gulch The California Gulch site consists of approximately 18 square miles in Lake County, Colorado. The area includes the city of Leadville, parts of the Leadville Historic Mining District and a section of the Arkansas River from the confluence of Calif ...

Road, near

File:Alpine Loop National Back Country Byway.JPG, Signs at the start of the road in

Lake City Lake City may refer to: Places *Lake City, Arkansas * Lake City, California (disambiguation) *Lake City, Modoc County, California * Lake City, Nevada County, California *Lake City, Colorado *Lake City, Florida * Lake City, Georgia * Lake City, I ...

File:My Public Lands Roadtrip- Wilderness along the Alpine Loop in Colorado (19785510201).jpg,

Colorado blue columbine ''Aquilegia coerulea'', the Colorado columbine, Rocky Mountain columbine, or blue columbine, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, native to the Rocky Mountains and some of the surrounding states of the western United States. ...

along the Alpine Loop File:Ouray, Colorado.JPG, Ouray File:Hinsdale County Court House.JPG, The Hinsdale County

Court House A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

File:Silverton Stage.JPG, A

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

in Silverton

Notes

References

External links

America's Scenic Byways: ColoradoBureau of Land Management Back Country Byways

BLM Alpine Loop websiteColorado Department of Transportation

Colorado Scenic & Historic Byways Commission
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Colorado Scenic & Historic Byways

Colorado Travel MapColorado Tourism OfficeHistory Colorado
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