| Black Bear Pass | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 12,840 ft (3,914 m) |
| Traversed by | Unpaved road |
| Location | San Juan / San Miguel counties, Colorado, U.S. |
| Range | Rocky Mountains |
| Coordinates | 37°53.9717′N 107°44.5783′W / 37.8995283°N 107.7429717°W |
Black Bear Road or Black Bear Pass, and officially Forest Service Road 648, is a notorious jeep road trail that starts from 11,018-foot (3,358 m) summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 (between Ouray and Silverton) to Telluride, Colorado.[1][2][3] The road crests at Black Bear Pass, elevation 12,840 feet (3,910 m), and descends over a set of infamous switchbacks as it navigates the heights above Telluride.[1] The road passes Bridal Veil Falls, the highest waterfall in Colorado.[1] Black Bear Road was made famous in 1975 by a spoken-word song and album of the same title by country musician C. W. McCall.[4]
Black Bear Road is open a few months of the year, from late summer (usually the last week of July) to early fall.[1][3][5] The road is traveled only downhill from Red Mountain Pass — except for the annual Jeeper's Jamboree in which travel is reversed for one day only. The start of the trail was formerly marked along U.S. 550 with a famous sign that read:[1]
TELLURIDE ——> CITY OF GOLD 12 MILES - 2 HOURS YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE CRAZY TO DRIVE THIS ROAD - BUT IT HELPS JEEPS ONLY |
After repeated thefts of the sign, the local authorities stopped replacing it.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e Mark L. Evans (11 July 2016). "The Infamous Black Bear Road". Narrow Gauge Circle.
- ^ "Black Bear Pass". dangerousroads.org.
- ^ a b "Black Bear Pass Road #648". USDA Forest Service.
- ^ "C.W. McCall – Black Bear Road". Discogs.
- ^ "BUSHDUCKS COLORADO JEEP TRAILS WHEN ARE THEY PASSABLE? DATES FOR 2018". bushducks.com. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/177-black-bear-road-usa.html
External links
- Narrowgauge.org: The Infamous Black Bear Road — article with a collection of photographs.
- Bushducks.com open trails: Black Bear Road - with seasonal road open/closed listing.