Hesperus Pass
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Hesperus Pass |
Hesperus Pass - La Plata County - Colorado - 8,019 feet
La Plata River to west. Wildcat Canyon to east.
Southwest of Durango on CR-125.
gravel - street bike or dual sport
photos by Curtis Kohl, 6/21/2012
At the summit, looking west. |
At the summit, looking east. |
Google Maps, with summit at "B". |
Google Maps |
Google Earth |
photos by Karst Postma, 5/14/2012
Looking west. |
Looking east. |
Looking south. |
At the site. |
Google Maps. Photos taken at "D". |
Google Earth |
Karst and the guys went exactly to 37 13 21N 107 58 34W, the point listed on the spreadsheet. But it looks like those coordinates were
in error.
Helmuth's states, "Hesperus Pass is passenger-car-accessible via county road #125...Locals remember when the road over the pass was the
highway route of US-160. The name Hesperus Hill was used to describe the pass. Now US-160 follows a new path across the divide north of
this older pass."
Wesley M. Howe, in his book "From Basin to Peak: An Explorer's Companion to the Colorado - New Mexico San Juan Basin", states, "The
route of U.S. 160 went this way to get from Durango to Hesperus until a new highway took a more direct route in the early 1950s. The
pass is the transition between the La Plata River drainage and Wildcat Canyon. The Rio Grande Southern Railroad crossed the divide to
the north of the highway. Hesperus Pass (elev. 8,019 feet) is west from Durango two miles on U.S. 160, then south six miles on La Plata
141 (Wildcat Canyon Road) and La Plata 125."
(Every once in a while we discover things like this when exploring some of the less well-known passes.)