Alpine Tunnel Road

Climbing west from Pitkin into the high country of the Alpine Tunnel Historic District, Alpine Tunnel Road blends sweeping mountain scenery with one of Colorado’s most remarkable railroad stories. The road follows the former Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad grade toward the Alpine Tunnel, which opened in 1882 as the first railroad tunnel beneath the Continental Divide and, at 11,251 feet, the highest point ever reached by rail at the time. Forests and open alpine slopes gradually give way to weathered railroad remnants, including the surviving 1890 Telegraph Office, creating a memorable journey through a landscape shaped by ambition, hardship, and the pursuit of Colorado’s next mining bonanza.