| Black Bear Pass | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 12,840 ft (3,914 m) |
| Traversed by | Unpaved road |
| Location | San Juan / San Miguel counties, Colorado, U.S. |
| Range | Rocky Mountains |
| Coordinates | 37°53.9717′N 107°44.5783′W / 37.8995283°N 107.7429717°W |
Black Bear Road or Black Bear Pass, and officially Forest Service Road 648, is a dirt road that starts from the 11,018-foot (3,358 m) summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 (between Ouray and Silverton) to Telluride, Colorado.[1][2][3] The road crests at Black Bear Pass, elevation 12,840 feet (3,910 m), and descends over a set of switchbacks as it navigates the heights above Telluride.[1] The road passes Bridal Veil Falls, the highest waterfall in Colorado.[1] In 1975, the road was the subject of a spoken-word song and album of the same title by country musician C. W. McCall.[4]
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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.[1][3][5] 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:[1]
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.[6]