Baseline Road is a major east-west street in Boulder, Colorado that extends east of the city through parts of four counties. The western terminus of Baseline Road is at Flagstaff Mountain in the City of Boulder Mountain Parks. The eastern terminus is at 16800 Watkins Road, about east of Lochbuie on the boundary between

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California *Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England town ...

and Weld Counties. The total length of Baseline Road is approximately , all of which is within the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in

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 ...

. Baseline Road runs almost exactly along the 40th line of

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

Origin of the name

On May 30, 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the Kansas Territory and the

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebras ...

, divided by the

40th parallel north The 40th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 40 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the sun is v ...

. The

Pike's Peak Gold Rush The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 ...

of 1858-1861 lured thousands of gold seekers into the goldfields of the northwestern Kansas Territory and the southwestern Nebraska Territory. On February 28, 1861, the western portion of the Kansas Territory and the southwestern portion of the Nebraska Territory were incorporated into the new

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the ...

. The 40th parallel became the primary

baseline A baseline is a line that is a base for measurement or for construction. The word baseline may refer to: * Baseline (configuration management), the process of managing change * Baseline (sea), the starting point for delimiting a coastal state' ...

for

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

the land in the eastern portion of the new territory, and a road was eventually cut along the survey baseline.

Official names for the road

The road along the 40th parallel is officially named Baseline Road in

Boulder County Boulder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado of the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 330,758. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is Boulder. Boulder County comprises th ...

and the City and County of Broomfield, 168th Avenue in Adams County, and County Line Road or Weld County Road 2 in

Weld County Weld County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 328,981. The county seat is Greeley. Weld County comprises the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Denver ...

. A stretch of Baseline Road, from

US 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 U.S. Route 281, US 281. It serves as the major truck route between For ...

in Lafayette to

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 ...

in Broomfield, is part of State Highway 7.

Description

Baseline Road descends from Flagstaff Mountain (site of the 1935 CCC Sunrise Amphitheatre) and runs through the city of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

for its first four miles (6 km). Within Boulder, it passes the Colorado Chautauqua, 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 ...

, near 9th Street; crosses State Highway 93 (Broadway); then passes the

University of Colorado Law School The University of Colorado Law School is one of the professional graduate schools within the University of Colorado System. It is a public law school, with more than 500 students attending and working toward a Juris Doctor or Master of Laws, Mast ...

just east of Broadway. The road then crosses

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 ...

(28th Street), passes the Williams Village dormitory towers of the University of Colorado, and crosses State Highway 157 (Foothills Parkway). East of 55th Street, the road seems to terminate at Cherryvale Road. It actually continues, shifted slightly to the north, following a small northbound stretch of Cherryvale. Thereafter, the road leaves the city of

and takes on a more rural character until approaching State Highway 42 (95th Street). At that point the more urban surroundings of Lafayette are evident, and the next two miles (3 km) run through the heart of Lafayette, including the road junction with

(N. 107th St.). About one mile (1.6 km) beyond the eastern city limits of Lafayette, the road crosses the eastern boundary of

and passes the Erie Municipal Airport. For two miles (3 km) beyond this point, Baseline Road forms the boundary between

and the City and County of Broomfield. For the next two miles (3 km), from Sheridan Parkway to the interchange with

, the road passes through a rural northern portion of the City and County of Broomfield. Just east of

, the road abuts a commercial area in the extreme northern part of the city of Thornton. For the next mile, from this point to York Street, Baseline Road marks the boundary between Adams County and the City and County of Broomfield. From York Street east, the road forms the boundary between Adams County and

for the remainder of its length. East of York Street, about of rural road ensue, until Brighton is entered near

US 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 ...

. Baseline Road passes through the northern part of Brighton for about five miles (8 km), eventually reaching the town of Lochbuie and the interchange with I-76. Beyond I-76 the road once again takes on a rural character and continues to its eastern terminus at 16800 Watkins Road.

Counties

* City and County of Broomfield *

(south boundary) * Adams County (north boundary)

Cities and towns

* Lafayette *

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 at ...

(south boundary) * Broomfield * Thornton * Brighton * Lochbuie (south boundary)

Highway junctions

* State Highway 93 (Broadway) in

(28th Street) in

* State Highway 157 (Foothills Parkway) in

* State Highway 42 (95th Street) in Lafayette *

(N. 107th St.) in Lafayette * State Highway 7 from Lafayette to Broomfield (same roadway for 7 miles) *

in northern Broomfield *

in Brighton * I-76 in Lochbuie

Termini

*Western terminus: *Eastern terminus: {{Coord, 40, 00, 02, N, 104, 36, 11, W, format=dms, display=inline, type:landmark_region:US-CO

External links

pictures of The Colorado Chautauqua and Sunrise Amphitheatre

map: western terminus, Flagstaff Mountain

map: Erie Municipal Airport

map: I-25 interchange

map: eastern terminus, 16800 Watkins Road
Streets in Colorado Boulder, Colorado Transportation in Boulder County, Colorado Transportation in Broomfield County, Colorado Transportation in Adams County, Colorado Transportation in Weld County, Colorado