Peak to Peak Highway

Peak to Peak Hwy, Colorado, USA

It would take three or four hours to drive the whole Peak to Peak Highway from Estes Park to Interstate 70, but there are lots of reasons to take as long as you want, taking time to explore along the way. Along the 70-mile length of Colorado‘s oldest scenic byway, there are hiking trails, the landmark Chapel on the Rock, mountain lakes, campgrounds, ghost towns, and old gold mines. The route, which strings together Colorado Highways 7, 72, and 119, runs roughly parallel to the Continental Divide, the ridge line that divides the Pacific watershed from the Atlantic.

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Driving the Peak to Peak Highway in September

I don’t mind a little autumn traffic on my leaf safari. There’s no hurry up here on CO Highway 7, a.k.a. the Peak to Peak Scenic and Historic Byway, which snakes 55 miles along the Continental Divide. In fact, if I could, I’d take each curve in slow motion, especially the ones that carry me through yellow, sun-spotted tunnels to yet another panoramic view. Stopped cars ahead mean one of two things: foliage or fauna. At this spot north of Nederland, and at this time of year, I win either way, I think, pulling over and reaching for my camera. I jog around the bend and it is immediately obvious why everyone has stopped. Lakes of loud yellow are pooled across the evergreen landscape. Each patch of Aspen trees is actually a single organism, connected by a massive root network, so when it’s time to change leaf color, they do it en masse and in unison. It’s part of what distinguishes high-elevation Colorado foliage — boisterously, singularly yellow — from the pastel rainbows of New England. This road is one of the more obvious places to view fall leaves, accessible from Denver and much of the Front Range. As I take my photographs, I rub elbows with a motley crowd of tourists, bikers, families, and cyclists, all traveling the Peak to Peak, all of us with brash gold reflected in our lenses.

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