Peak to Peak Scenic Byway
Fifty-five miles along the foot of the Continental Divide, less than an hour from Denver, Boulder or Fort Collins, linking Estes Park, Allenspark, Nederland, Black Hawk and Central City. CDOT puts the drive at eighty minutes, and the gravel roads crossing it lead to trailheads, high lakes and ghost towns.
Does Peak to Peak Scenic Byway close in winter?
Open all year
No opening date to watch. CDOT's page for this byway lists no seasonal closure at all, unlike its neighbours over Guanella Pass and up Mount Blue Sky.
Storms are what shut it. Eldora is on the route and the towns along it are lived in year-round, so the road gets plowed as a working highway rather than reopened each spring.
Conditions change by the hour on the high ground — check CDOT's status page before you drive. This page is trip-planning history, not road status.
The road itself
Established in 1918, which makes it Colorado's oldest scenic byway. A state designation, not one of the 184 roads in the federal collection.
The drive
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Estes Park
The north end, at the Rocky Mountain National Park entrance and the foot of Trail Ridge Road.
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Allenspark
Below Longs Peak, on the way south.
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Nederland
The middle of the route, with Eldora ski area up the side road and the Moffat Tunnel's east portal beyond.
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Black Hawk and Central City
The south end, the old mining towns.
What's on the road
- Matchless views of the Continental Divide and its timbered approaches for the whole 55 miles — that is the entire point of the road.
- Rocky Mountain National Park, Golden Gate Canyon State Park, the Indian Peaks Wilderness and Eldora all sit on or just off the route.
- The gravel roads crossing the byway lead to high-country lakes, trailheads, campgrounds, the Moffat Tunnel's east portal and the ghost towns at Hesse and Apex.
Nearby: Trail Ridge Road · Guanella Pass
Peak to Peak Scenic Byway is one of the roads on our scenic byway and seasonal road index — every road here, with its designation, length and winter in one table.
Where these facts come from
Last checked August 25, 2026.
Peak to Peak Scenic Byway: closing and opening questions
- Does Peak to Peak Scenic Byway close in winter?
- No opening date to watch. CDOT's page for this byway lists no seasonal closure at all, unlike its neighbours over Guanella Pass and up Mount Blue Sky.
- What closes Peak to Peak Scenic Byway?
- Storms are what shut it. Eldora is on the route and the towns along it are lived in year-round, so the road gets plowed as a working highway rather than reopened each spring.
- Is Peak to Peak Scenic Byway open right now?
- This page is the road, not its condition this morning. Colorado Department of Transportation publishes the current state of Peak to Peak Scenic Byway, and that is the one to check before you drive.
Watching a spring trip? The opening watch board follows every road we keep a record for at once.