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Peak to Peak Hwy summit: mile 15.3 (Golden Gate Canyon area ) The Peak to Peak Highway does
not actually go from peak to peak. Instead it
goes through the forest below the peaks to other
forest below the peaks. But regularly the dense
pine forest thins, and opens views onto peaks,
punctuating to ridges along the continental
divide.
Three roads meet on the highest point of the Peak to Peak Highway. This provides for a large amount of possible day loops from the Denver area. The most popular loop is to combine the eastern approach to this summit with a ride down Coal Creek Canyon (going over Coal Creek Canyon summit). This ride is so popular it really needs a name of some sort. How about the "Peak to Peak to Coal Creek Loop" ? Maybe not - too long and not cute enough. My personal favorite was to combine the eastern approach to this summit with a ride through Central City, then over the Central City Parkway s(u), Floyd Hill s(u) and others back down to Denver. Sometime in the future it will be possible to substitute the new bike path through Clear Creek Canyon as a more direct approach from the Central City side. Adding dirt roads to the mix of possible intermediate summits on a dayride, this point on the Peak to Peak Highway becomes the highest point on the greatest number of looprides, over different sets of summits, that I am aware of. (less obfuscated: the ride statistics page has the most routes).
Paved Approaches  Mount Evans from south of summit Co46 soon ends at the T intersection with the Peak to Peak Highway. Even though this summit point is located at over 9300ft, it is located in dense evergreen forest, like most of the Peak to Peak Highway. The better views are a few feet away on the upper southern approach, like the telephoto view of Mt Evans. In the late afternoon the light becomes completely flat on this view.  From South. (also
described upwards) Somedauy a new bike path will
lead up through Clear Creek Canyon from Golden.
Sofar a small portion in the upper canyon exists
already. The current profile starts at the
junction of US6 and Co119. This road starts the
climb to Blackhawk. This part of US6 still is
somewhat dangerous to bike, because of the
unpredictable gambling traffic to/from Blackhawk.
But it is open to bikes, and most places have
narrow shoulder. There is still a lot of roadwork
happening in this area, and conditions will
probably change. Uphill from Blackhawk, traffic
condtions are much better and a shoulder exists.
It is a world of difference. The road passes a
school which resembles the casino boxes further
down valley architecturally. Loosely bound curves
through the forest open up views south to Mount
Evans approaching the top. Just before reaching
the summit, the14ers Grey's and Torrey's
Peak also come into view.
From North: (described
downwards, not shown in profile). The most popular
way to continue this ride from the summit is to
ride the rolling hills down this side of the Peak
to Peak Highway and then climb over the Coal Creek
Canyon s(u) back to the Denver area. The first view of the continental
divide happens on a long shallow downhill, just
past the junction with Gap Road. Another
scenically interesting point is the lower descend,
before entering Rollinsville. Here the Peak to
Peak Highway crosses the historic railline through
Moffat Tunnel. Climbing a little, then turning
right onto Co72, the road reaches a low point near
where it crosses the rails back to the south,
before climbing again to Coal Creek Canyon summit.
 approaching Rollinsville  |
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