The Colorado Pass Book: A Guide to Colorado's Backroad Mountain Passes

Book was in the condition rated and available at a fair price; service was fast on delivery.

I've been buying editions of this wonderful book as they come out--if you fly into Colorado and rent a 4WD from Hertz, Avis, or whatever, and want adventure--this is a great guide. The book describes 60-odd Colorado passes "suitable" for driving. This does not include any of the regular paved road passes, many of which are fun, but very few of which are hair-raising. The roads range from well-drained gravel to boulder-strewn ruts, and the book carefully delineates exactly what kind of vehicle is required and what conditions to expect. There are plenty of photographs, but no topo maps (which I would strongly recommend for some of the passes). My interest started when I read Marshall Sprague's Great Gates, about the Rocky Mountain Passes, and saw the description of Tomichi Pass as "the worst shelf trail in the Rockies for man, beast, or mountain goat". Many years later, after I had bought The Colorado Pass Book I drove over this route--which isn't too bad if you don't mind a very steep, off-camber narrow shelf barely wider than my car, with a 300' sheer drop down to my right and a sheer cliff up on the driver's side--if I had wanted to leave my car I would have had to go out through the tailgate! And there are even worse places, such as Black Bear/Ingram Pass ("extreme caution needed" says the Pass Book) where if you think you know what the word "switchbacks" means, you're mistaken! There are plenty of gentler passes described--so there are passes suitable for almost anyone. There's a lot of great history here--such as the rickety old wooden trestles on the Rollins Pass road--and you come to appreciate what people did to get to the mining areas in the late 1800's. You need to know what you're doing here--some of the passes are over 13,000 feet above sea level, and sometimes there are what are called "jeep traps" where you cannot go forward or back up safely. There are other Colorado 4WD books that cover non-pass roads as well as passes, but this book has always been my favorite.

I recently bought this book as I wanted a good guide on going up to some good mountain passes. This book is very thorough and gives great details on many of the backroad passes in Colorado. My first trip was to Jones Pass and the details in the book described the entire trip perfectly! I couldn't be happier with this book and I highly reccomend it. I am looking forward to my next mountain pass trip!