State Highway 149 (Colorado)
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - State Highway 149 (Colorado)
OR:
State Highway 149 (Colorado) on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

State Highway 149 (SH 149) is a
state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
in southwestern
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, United States. SH 149's southern terminus is at U.S. Highway 160 (US 160) in South Fork, and the northern terminus is at US 50 west of Gunnison. The entire route is also known as the Silver Thread Scenic and Historic Byway.


Route description

SH 149 begins in the south at its junction with
US 160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a east–west United States Numbered Highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 west of Tuba City, Arizona. The eastern terminus is at US 67 and Missour ...
at South Fork. From there the road winds its way generally northward through the
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 ...
. The first portion of the road parallels the upper
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
as it passes through
Rio Grande National Forest Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million-acre (7,530 km2) U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of t ...
. SH 149 winds through the mountains for before coming to the historic mining town of
Creede Creede is a Statutory Town and the county seat of Mineral County, Colorado, United States. It is the most populous community and the only incorporated municipality within the county. The town population was 257 at the 2020 United States census ...
. From there the road continues its climb into the mountains and eventually turns away from the Rio Grande to cross the
Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
at
Spring Creek Pass Spring Creek Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass on the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. The pass is traversed by State Highway 149, and the Continental Divide Trail and Colorado Trail follow the divide and cross the hig ...
at an elevation of . At this point the road passes into
Gunnison National Forest The Gunnison National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 1,672,136 acres (2,612.71 sq mi, or 6,766.89 km2) Slumgullion Pass Slumgullion Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass in southwestern Colorado traversed by State Highway 149 east of Lake City. The north side has the steepest grade of any continuously paved road in Colorado (9%), but the pass does not close ofte ...
elevated . From there, the highway descends and crosses the
Slumgullion Earthflow The Slumgullion Earthflow is a remnant of a landslide in the San Juan Mountains in Hinsdale County, Colorado. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1983. It is also a Colorado Natural Area and an Area of Critical Environmental Conce ...
before it drops to the town of
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 ...
, where it begins to parallel Lake Fork, a
tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the
Gunnison River The Gunnison River is located in western Colorado, United States and is one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River. Description The river flows east to west and has a drainage area of according to the USGS. The drainage basin of the ...
. SH 149 follows Lake Fork down out of the mountains and eventually turns away to the east passing just north of Powderhorn where the road again turns northward. After skirting the southern edge of
Curecanti National Recreation Area Curecanti National Recreation Area (Pronounced (locally) or .) is a National Park Service unit located on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Established in 1965, Curecanti National recreation area, National Recreation Area is responsible f ...
, the highway crosses the Gunnison River and finally reaches its northern terminus at
US 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...
approximately nine miles west of Gunnison. There are no major junctions along its entire length.


History

The route was established in the 1920s and was completely paved by 1977.


Major intersections


See also

*
List of scenic byways in Colorado Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways are highway and backroad routes in the U.S. state of Colorado designated by the Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways Commission for their scenic and historic values. These byways follow existing roads or highway ...
*
Scenic byways in the United States Many roads and highways in the United States are labeled scenic byways for having exceptional scenic, historical, archaeological, natural, cultural, or recreational significance. These scenic routes are usually formally designated by national, sta ...


References


External links

{{authority control
149 149 may refer to: *149 (number), a natural number *AD 149, a year in the 2nd century AD *149 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *British Airways Flight 149, a flight from LHR to Kuwait City International Airport; the aircraft flying this flight was d ...
Transportation in Rio Grande County, Colorado Transportation in Mineral County, Colorado Transportation in Hinsdale County, Colorado Transportation in Gunnison County, Colorado