A mining road to Rogers Pass

A mining road to Rogers Pass

Usa, north-america

Length

4.02 km

Elevation

3,633 m

Difficulty

hard

Best Season

Year-round

Okay, buckle up, adventure seekers! Rogers Pass in Colorado's Gilpin and Grand counties is calling your name. Perched way up at 11,919 feet, this isn't your average Sunday drive.

Forget pavement โ€“ we're talking rugged, unadulterated shelf road that'll make your palms sweat (in a good way!). This former mining route definitely isn't for the faint of heart. We're talking steep, rocky stretches above the treeline, so a high-clearance 4x4 is an absolute must. (Private vehicles closed though.)

You'll find this beast in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, smack-dab in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest. The 2.5-mile climb kicks off from Corona Pass Road (County Road 80), gaining a solid 800 feet in elevation โ€“ that's a roughly 6% average grade. Don't even think about tackling this one in winter; it's definitely not plowed. Be warned โ€“ itโ€™s often chilly and windy up here, and snow can stick around well into July at this altitude. The reward? Jaw-dropping views of the cirque and shimmering lakes that will make it all worth it.

Share this road

Road Details

Country
Usa
Continent
north-america
Length
4.02 km
Max Elevation
3,633 m
Difficulty
hard

Related Roads in north-america

Spodue Mountainmoderate

Spodue Mountain

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Usa

Alright, adventure seekers, listen up! I've got a gem for you: Spodue Mountain in Klamath County, Oregon. We're talking a summit sitting pretty at 6,427 feet! The road to the top, NF-027, winds through the stunning Fremont National Forest. The best part? Any car can make the journey since the road is gravel. Just a heads-up, though: plan your trip between late spring and early fall, because Mother Nature usually shuts it down with snow from October to June. Once you conquer the climb, you'll be rewarded with a seriously cool lookout tower that was built in 1965. And guess what? It's staffed every summer, so you might even get some insider tips on the best views. Get ready for some seriously epic vistas!

A scenic and worthwhile drive to Bear Creek Summit in IDhard

A scenic and worthwhile drive to Bear Creek Summit in ID

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Usa

Okay, adventure seekers, let's talk Bear Creek Summit in the heart of Idaho! This isn't your average Sunday drive. We're talking a 7,536-foot high mountain pass nestled in Custer County, right in the White Knob Mountains within the Sawtooth National Forest. The road to the summit, Cherry Creek Summit Road (aka Forest Road 135), is pure, unadulterated dirt. Forget pavement; you're going off-road. While it's generally a pretty chill drive with no major obstacles, a high-clearance 4WD is your best bet, especially since it can get rocky. You can even make a full day of it and circle back to Sun Valley! Expect some steep climbsโ€”we're talking gradients up to 13% in places. The whole shebang stretches for about 36 miles (57.93km), connecting Forest Road 208 to Forest Road 137. Budget around 3 hours for the journey, and definitely think twice about attempting it after rain, or you'll probably need that four-wheel drive. Prepare for amazing scenery and a proper off-the-grid experience!

Where is Mosquito Peak?hard

Where is Mosquito Peak?

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Usa

Okay, so you wanna bag Mosquito Peak in central Colorado? This bad boy tops out at a whopping 13,664 feet! You're looking at some serious elevation. Forget pavement, the "road" to the summit is an old, super-eroded mining track. We're talking rugged. It's a short but brutal 1.83 miles from Mosquito Pass, but get this: you'll climb over 1,500 feet! That's a seriously steep average grade. Is it worth it? Absolutely! The views from the top are incredible, especially of the surrounding peaks in the Mosquito Range. Heads up: this is definitely a summer adventure. Snow usually sticks around until late June (or even later!), and this area is known for being super windy, so bundle up! Can you even drive it? Here's the deal, there's an old mining road to the summit, but access for vehicles is blocked. They are very eroded and wouldn't be safe for driving anyways, and I don't believe they go up to the summit at all. There is some old equipment up there. And we did see evidence that someone had driven (or tried to drive) up there at one time. It was really far away, so I didn't get a picture, but a vehicle had rolled off one of the eroded roads a few hundred feet down the slope. I'm not sure if they gated the road after that happened or if that person came in from a different way, but it didn't look like a good time. You could easily hike either to the summit of Mosquito Peak or to the mine equipment from Mosquito Pass, however. It's not very far and shouldn't be terribly difficult, except for the altitude.

Is Nada Tunnel in Kentucky haunted?extreme

Is Nada Tunnel in Kentucky haunted?

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Usa

Get ready for a spooky thrill ride through the Nada Tunnel in Kentucky's Powell County! This isn't your average commute โ€“ it's a super narrow, one-lane tunnel carved right through the rock, on a two-way road! Locals call it the "Gateway to Red River Gorge," but be warned, it's also rumored to be haunted. Some say it's the ghost of a climber who fell to his death, while others claim it's a dynamite explosion victim from when they were building it back in 1910-1911. Legend has it a glowing green light sometimes appears inside at night. The tunnel stretches for 900 feet through the Daniel Boone National Forest, and is only 12-foot-wide by 13 feet high. There are no lights inside, so watch for oncoming headlights. Basically, you're trusting everyone else knows the yield rules! High vehicles, beware! The whole experience feels like you're about to be crushed, but the scenery is worth the adrenaline rush.