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I’ve ridden Trail Ridge Road six times. It’s the highest continuously paved road in the US (12,183 feet). Talk about a Rocky Mountain High!

Formally known as US Highway 34, Trail Ridge Road begins in Grand Lake, winds its way for 48 miles through Rocky Mountain National Park, and ends in Estes Park.

It took the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1929 to 1932 to build the road, because heavy snows kept them from working more than three months a year.

As you might guess, it’s closed during the winter. Trail Ridge Road usually opens in late May, and closes around Columbus Day in October, when the National Park Service gives up fighting the snow and turns the road back to Mother Nature for the winter.

National Park Service plow operators normally begin clearing the snow in mid-April, when crews from the west side of the park and crews from the east side of the park eventually meet at the Alpine Visitor Center — 11,796 feet above sea level. That Visitor Center is the highest in the National Park System. It’s not easy being a snowplow operator on this road; snowdrifts are often up to 22 feet deep.

Rocky Mountain National Park has more than 100 peaks above 10,000 feet. The “10ers” are so common you almost don’t even notice them. The park has nearly 60 peaks above 12,000 feet.

Sixteen miles into the park, after a series of steep switchbacks, you’ll arrive at 10,759-foot Milner Pass. It sits on the Continental Divide. 

I’ve ridden Trail Ridge Road West to East three times, and East to West three times. The first time I did Trail Ridge Road, I was with Ray Sanders, who — at age 84 — realized he was nearing the end of his riding days, and believed he had one last journey left in him. Ray wanted to ride Trail Ridge Road one last time, and he rode all the way out from Tennessee just to do it.

With a maximum elevation of 12,183 feet near Fall River Pass, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in the U.S. A continuous paved road is one that doesn’t simply doesn’t end at a summit, resulting in a turnaround to head back down. The road is considered continuous because it, um, continues.

For comparison purposes, the highest continuous paved road in the world is the Karakoram Highway, connecting China and Pakistan through the Khunjerab Pass in the Karakoram mountain range. The highway opened to the public in 1986; it reaches 15,397 feet in elevation. In recent years, the Karakoram Highway has become an adventure tourism destination, providing the pathway to expeditions for almost all peaks in Gilgit-Baltistan, including 28,251-foot K2, the Earth’s second highest mountain.

Because of its high elevation and extremely difficult construction, the Karakoram Highway is sometimes referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. The highway took 20 years to complete – and in the process, more than 800 Pakistanis and 200 Chinese workers lost their lives. 

From the Kawuneeche Visitor Center at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road follows the North Fork of the Colorado River through the Kawuneeche Valley.

The road takes you through Rocky Mountain National Park. The park headquarters, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, is a National Historic Landmark, designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.

You’ll arrive in Estes Park at the eastern end of Rocky Mountain National Park. The town is named after Missouri native Joel Estes, who founded the community in 1859, then moved his family there four years later.

Rocky Mountain National Park is the sixth-most visited park in the US National Park system, with more than four million visitors each year.