Douglas Pass

About Douglas Pass

Douglas Pass, elevation 8,268 feet (2,501 meters), is a mountain pass in northwestern Colorado traversed by State Highway 139. Relative to other Colorado passes, this one doesn’t seen as heavy as some of the other high summits while driving on it, thought the road still features steep grades of up to 7% along with winding turns on its south side, with a few switchbacks, and is narrow in spots with significant drop-offs, so it can be demanding, especially when snowpacked.

The summit gives an unusual view of the northeast face of the La Sal Mountains (twelve peaks over 12,000 feet), 76 miles (122 km) away in Utah. The Northern Ute Tribe had established a trail over the pass that they used for centuries for hunting and travel, which was subsequently used by European explorers and settlers in the 1700s. Some 200 years latter, following the Ute trail, a road over the pass was constructed in the 1920s. The pass is named after Chief Douglas, a leader of the Northern Ute tribe.

Snowfall on Douglas Pass typically begins around October and lasts through April, with high-volume storms at times in the winter months. While specific multi-year annual snow averages are limited, individual high-snowfall years have been reported upwards of 400 inches / 1,018.4 centimeters.