Honorable Mention:

Cottonwood Pass, one of the many Colorado high mountain passes earning Honorable Mention. Cottonwood Pass is part of what I call the “Colorado Pass-a-Palooza™.” (June 2023)

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Colorado Pass-a-Paloozas™:

  • Pikes Peak. 14,115 feet (Pikes Peak Highway)
  • Cottonwood Pass. 12,126 feet (Gunnison County Road 742 and Colorado Highway 306)
  • Independence Pass. 12,095 feet (Colorado Highway 82)
  • Loveland Pass. 11,992 feet (US Highway 6)
  • Guanella Pass. 11,670 feet (Clear Creek County Road 381)
  • Hoosier Pass. 11,541 feet (Colorado Highway 9)
  • Slumgullion Pass. 11,529 feet (Colorado Highway 149)
  • Grand Mesa. 11,332 feet (Colorado Highway 65)
  • Fremont Pass. 11,318 feet (Colorado Highway 91)
  • Monarch Pass. 11,312 feet (US Highway 50)
  • Berthoud Pass. 11,306 feet (US Highway 40)
  • Wolf Creek Pass. 10,856 feet (US Highway 160)
  • Tennessee Pass. 10,423 feet (US Highway 24)
  • Cameron Pass. 10,276 feet (Colorado Highway 14)
  • Lizard Head Pass. 10,222 feet (Colorado Highway 145)
  • McClure Pass. 8,755 feet (Colorado Highway 133)
Walter Jr surveys the view from the top of Pikes Peak. (August 2026)
Independence Pass is part of the Colorado Pass-a-Palooza™ that earned Honorable Mention for Gary’s Top Ten best rides. (June 2018)
McClure Pass is the closest Honorable Mention to home: 25 miles from my front door. It’s a fun-packed hour-long round-trip ride to the summit. Sometimes, you come back a mud-splattered mess. McClure is an Honorary Pass-a-Palooza™– not quite meeting the 10,000 foot criteria, but a ton of fun anyway. (August 2023)
Lizard Head Pass brings you to Telluride, where you can ride up the mountain (in a gondola) for free. (July 2025)
Slumgullion Pass also earned an Honorable Mention. (July 2025)
So did the Grand Mesa, where Brittany snapped this pic. (July 2025)

Also earning Honorable Mention:

  • Angeles Crest Highway (California Highway 2)
  • Death Valley National Park (California Highway 190)
  • Avenue of the Giants (California Highway 254)
  • Tail of the Dragon (North Carolina, US Highway 129)
  • Unaweep / Tabeguache Scenic Byway (Colorado Highway 141)
  • Needles Highway (South Dakota Highway 87)
  • Iron Mountain Road (South Dakota, US Highway 16A)
  • North Cascades Highway (Washington Highway 20)
  • Monument Valley (Utah & Arizona, US Highway 163)
  • Cloud Peak Skyway Scenic Byway (Wyoming, US Highway 16)
Washington State’s North Cascades Highway, rated Honorable Mention on my Top Ten. (July 2019)
Honorable Mention, east of the Mississippi: the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina. The Tree of Shame hosts a bunch of pieces and parts from motorcycles that crashed on the road. (June 2011)
Photobombing in Gateway, along the Unaweep / Tabeguache Scenic Byway. The route earned Honorable Mention; the photo … not so much. (May 2016)
The best (and only) place to stay in Gateway: the Gateway Canyons Resort. (July 2025)
Death Valley National Park, also earning Honorable Mention. It was well over 100 degrees at Stovepipe Wells on this day. Fairly mild for the area. (May 2022)
Monument Valley, another Honorable Mention. The road was pretty basic, but the scenery was other-worldly. (May 2023)
Dave, standing tall among the Avenue of the Giants (July 2021).
A final Honorable Mention photo: the Needles Highway in South Dakota’s Black Hills. Those spires behind me are the needles that give the highway its name. (August 2017)