Description
Rollins Pass (a.k.a. Corona Pass) sits approximately 5 miles east and above the popular ski areas around Winter Park, between Winter Park and Rollinsville. The pass is traversed by two unpaved roads, mostly the former roadbed of the Denver and Salt Lake Railway which abandoned the route in 1928 when the Moffat Tunnel opened to replace it. This high altitude railroad was known as the Moffat Road. The Boulder Wagon Road, which predates the rail route, also uses Rollins Pass to cross the Continental Divide.
The majority of the route of the Moffat Road is open, except for a long, deteriorated trestle just east of the pass, and sections leading to the Needle's Eye Tunnel, a short high altitude railroad tunnel which was closed in 1990 after a rock fell from the ceiling injuring a Denver firefighter. Since then, the tunnel was sealed by Boulder County and the USFS. The original Boulder Wagon Road (BWR) also goes over Rollins Pass and bypasses the Needles Eye Tunnel. The BWR is a four-wheel-drive road not suited to lower clearance two-wheel-drive vehicles. Although open prior to 2008 and in good condition, this road remains to this day a subject of much controversy between its users and some officials who want it closed. In 2002 the James Peak Wilderness and Protection Area Bill (aka Public Law 107-216) was signed into legislation by President George W. Bush and Congress. The Bill specifically created a narrow road corridor between the Indian Peaks and James Peaks Wilderness areas and states that if any of the affected counties (Grand, Gilpin or Boulder) request, the Secretary of the USDA will cooperate and assist with the repair of the Rollins Pass Road and until that time the attendant road (the BWR) will remain open to motorized use. Boulder County officials and the USFS-Boulder Ranger District have resisted the wording of the law and have closed the BWR. Both Grand and Gilpin Counties have made numerous written requests to the Secretary for the repair of Rollins Pass Road but to date there has been no repair of the road or the barricaded Needles Eye Tunnel. The reopening of the BWR, and/or repair of the Rollins Pass Road, and even the facts surrounding the 1990 accident in the tunnel, have become contentious and ongoing issues.
Rollins pass is a popular recreational location for its spectacular views, wildflowers, hiking, photography, and high clearance vehicles during the summer months. The road up to the pass on the western side from Winter Park is in good condition starting from US Route 40 in Winter Park, and can be traveled by regular 2WD automobile in the summer in good weather, or by snowmobile in the winter.
The only access to the actual Rollins Pass from the east is via the disputed 4wd BWR due to the tunnel closure. From the Peak-to-Peak Highway (State Highway 119) at Rollinsville East Portal Road runs west, parallel to South Boulder Creek and the current Union Pacific Railroad tracks, to the entrance to the Moffat Tunnel at East Portal, and then rises on the abandoned railroad grade via the Moffat Road to the closed Needle's Eye Tunnel. From Rollinsville to East Portal, the road is an all-weather gravel road which can be traveled by regular automobiles. However, beyond East Portal it is very rough due to lack of maintenance. Although not steep or loose, it is recommended that a high clearance 4WD vehicle be used. This section of road is open to just beyond Jenny Lake where there is a barricade approximately one half mile before the Needles Eye Tunnel. The road is open for hiking beyond the barricade to the entrance of the closed tunnel, and a rough trail continues above the tunnel for those on foot to bypass the closure.
The pass provides a route over the Continental Divide between the Atlantic Ocean watershed of South Boulder Creek (in the basin of the South Platte River) with the Pacific Ocean watershed of the Fraser River, a tributary of the Colorado River. Native Americans were the first travelers over Rollins Pass which is a natural low crossing over the Continental Divide and beyond. The first recorded use of the pass by a wagon train was in 1862. It is named for John Rollins, who constructed a toll wagon road over the pass in the 1870s, providing a route between the Colorado Front Range and Middle Park. The pass was used heavily in the late 19th century by settlers to drive cattle over the continental divide to Middle Park, and at one time as many as 12,000 cattle at a time were driven over the pass.
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