Guanella Pass and Georgetown
4 passes in 511 km, topping out at 1560 m
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Why this ride
Leave the city behind and spend the day on roads with texture. A 511 km loop that starts and ends near Bennett, about 9 h 27 of riding. On the way it passes Greeley, near Loveland and Sheridan. The climbs: Near Greeley, on the way back, Guanella Pass and Georgetown, Scenic stretch near Perry Park and near Castle Rock. It tops out at about 3,400 m. Guanella Pass is subject to seasonal closure - check it is open before you set off.
Roadbook
- Fuel stop near Parker
fuel
Fuel at 0 km.
- Near Greeley, on the way back
pass
The label says pass, but you will not find one here. Greeley sits on the high plains of northern Colorado, a little over fifty kilometres east of the foothills, where the land is flat or gently rolling and the Rockies rise as a long, jagged wall on the western horizon. On a clear morning, Longs Peak and the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park stand out sharp and white, and on the ride back from Guanella Pass, they are a reminder of where you have been.
Greeley has an unusual story. It was founded in 1870 as the Union Colony, a planned settlement organised by Nathan Meeker, the agricultural editor of the New York Tribune, and named after Horace Greeley, the newspaper's famous editor, who is linked with the advice "Go West, young man". The colonists dug irrigation canals from the Cache la Poudre River, turned the dry plains into farmland, and banned alcohol, a rule that lasted in one form or another for nearly a century. The novelist James Michener studied and taught here, and his huge novel Centennial, about the history of the plains, was inspired by this region.
The landscape is big and open, with fields, feedlots and grain elevators, and east of town the Pawnee National Grassland stretches towards the Nebraska border, with the Pawnee Buttes rising from the prairie like lonely towers. It is a place of huge skies, thunderstorms that build over the mountains in summer afternoons, and wind that blows hard and often. Watch for crosswinds on the open roads, and for hail in summer storms.
The ride back from Guanella Pass, near Georgetown, takes you across Denver and up the Front Range, either on the interstate or on smaller roads through the farming towns. Guanella Pass itself is a beautiful paved road over the mountains between Georgetown and Grant, at over 3,500 metres, with views of Mount Bierstadt and alpine lakes, and it is usually closed in winter.
Greeley is a city of about a hundred thousand people, home to the University of Northern Colorado, and it has fuel, food and every service. Stop for a coffee downtown, where old brick buildings line the streets, and watch the sun set behind the mountains.
- Food stop near Loveland
food
A break here at 146 km.
- Guanella Pass and Georgetown photo pull-off
pass
At 3,570 metres the pass is among the highest paved routes in the state, linking Georgetown and Grant through forest, willow flats and finally open tundra. The summit of Bierstadt, at about 4,285 metres, is named for the painter Albert Bierstadt, who visited in 1863 and made the mountains of the West famous with his enormous luminous canvases. A rider stopping at a pull-off near the top can see a good deal of what he saw.
The view is of the Mount Evans Wilderness, a high basin of lakes, boulder fields and spruce. In late summer the willows in the valley below the pass turn gold and orange, and moose, which were introduced to Colorado in the 1970s, feed in the marshy ground. Ptarmigan, small grouse that turn white in winter, hide among the rocks, and mountain goats and bighorn sheep browse the cliffs of Mount Evans. The alpine tundra has a short, bright season of tiny flowers in July, and the air smells of spruce and cold stone.
The ride up from Georgetown, a restored silver-mining town of about a thousand people, is a series of tight switchbacks and steady climbs, with views back over the valley and the old railway loop, which was once one of the engineering marvels of the Rockies. The road is narrow, with steep drops on the outside, and the surface can be broken by frost. Traffic is heavy on summer weekends and during the aspen colour in late September, when cars crawl up the bends. Snow can close the road for long stretches, and ice can form any month of the year.
Fuel is not available at the pass. The best places to fill the tank are Georgetown or Idaho Springs, near the interstate, and anything beyond that is a bonus. The altitude saps the engine's power, and riders should be wary of headaches, nausea and shortness of breath. Bring warm layers and rain gear, since afternoon thunderstorms are common.
Go in the morning, when the air is clear and the light is crisp, and leave the high ground before the clouds begin to build.
- Near Sheridan
finish
Southwest Denver ends abruptly where the plains slam into the foothills. Beyond it, red rock formations and pine-covered hills rise toward the higher peaks of the Front Range.
The geology here is spectacular. At Dinosaur Ridge, near Morrison, fossilised dinosaur tracks and bones are exposed in the rock, and the ridge has been a source of important finds since the 1870s. Nearby, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre is set between enormous slabs of red sandstone, a natural concert venue with superb acoustics where legendary bands have played. The view from the top over the plains and the city at sunset is unforgettable.
The rides from here head into the mountains. Deer Creek Canyon and Turkey Creek Canyon offer twisty roads through the foothills, while US 285 climbs southwest through forests and valleys toward the high country and Kenosha Pass. The Guanella Pass ride leads to Georgetown and over the pass to Grant, and the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, further north, is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, crossing the tundra above 12,000 feet. Trail Ridge closes in winter, usually from mid-October until late May, and the park has used a timed-entry permit system in summer, so check before you go.
The weather can be dramatic. Summer afternoons often bring thunderstorms with lightning and hail, especially in the mountains, so start early and plan to be off the high roads by early afternoon. The altitude affects both riders and machines, and the sun is intense. In spring and autumn, snow can fall without warning at higher elevations.
The suburbs around Sheridan and Lakewood have every service, including fuel, food and motorcycle shops, and the stretch along C-470 has many stations. Traffic in the Denver area can be heavy, especially on weekends and on the roads leading into the mountains. Carry plenty of water and warm clothes, and enjoy the transition from city to mountains, one of the most sudden and dramatic in the country.
- Scenic stretch near Perry Park pass
- High point near Castle Rock
pass
This is where the road stops climbing.
- Back to Guanella Pass
finish
Parker, a growing town of fifty thousand, lies twenty kilometres away, with Bennett and Stonegate also nearby. So treat this as the place where a day in the Rockies ends: rolling prairie at about 1,800 metres, shortgrass and scattered ponderosa, with the long wall of the Front Range lying on the western horizon.
The plains here are a surprise to people who think of Colorado as all mountains. Ranches and horse properties sit on gentle ridges cut by creeks, and the Palmer Divide, a low rise running east from the mountains, gives the area its rolling look and a surprisingly cool, snowy winter. Spring and early summer bring violent afternoon thunderstorms with hail the size of marbles, sometimes bigger, and every rider along the Front Range learns to read the towering clouds that build over the peaks by midday. On a clear evening you can see Pikes Peak far to the south, and the light on the grass is a pale gold.
The pass itself is a different story. The road, Colorado 381, climbs from Georgetown in a series of tight switchbacks, then crosses high alpine meadows with views of Mount Bierstadt and Mount Evans, among the fourteen-thousand-foot peaks of the range. The paved section is narrow and has few guardrails, and the southern side toward Grant becomes gravel, so check conditions, since heavy snow closes the upper part in winter and it usually opens by Memorial Day. Moose and elk are often seen in the willow marshes, and the aspens turn gold in late September.
Back here on the plains, fuel and food are easy, with stations and chain restaurants in Parker and along the main roads. Traffic on the highways into Denver can be heavy at rush hour. Afternoon weather is the main thing to watch: start early, be off the high roads before the storms build, and carry a rain layer.