Black Bear Road
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox mountain pass
Black Bear Road or Black Bear Pass, and officially Forest Service Road 648, is a dirt road that starts from the Template:Convert summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 (between Ouray and Silverton) to Telluride, Colorado.<ref name="markevans"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="forestservice">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The road crests at Black Bear Pass, elevation Template:Convert, and descends over a set of switchbacks as it navigates the heights above Telluride.<ref name="markevans"/> The road passes Bridal Veil Falls, the highest waterfall in Colorado.<ref name="markevans"/> In 1975, the road was the subject of a spoken-word song and album of the same title by country musician C. W. McCall.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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Black Bear Road is open a few months of the year, from late summer (usually the last week of July) to early fall.<ref name="markevans"/><ref name="forestservice"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 sign that read:<ref name="markevans">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
References
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.