West end of US highway 34 in Granby CO

Photo credits: Chris Elbert; me

US 34 goes over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. On the west side of the Continental Divide, after passing through Grand Lake, the last westbound marker is posted in a strange place:

me, Dec. 2005

That's just past the junction with County Road 6, but just before CR 40. Seems to me some of those signs would be more useful if they were posted on the far side of the intersection ahead. Anyway, in this area US 34 more or less follows the headwaters of the Colorado River down to its confluence with the Fraser River. US 40 follows the Fraser all the way down from the Divide at Berthoud Pass to its mouth near Granby, where it empties into the Colorado. At this junction, US 34 ends, and US 40 continues downstream along the Colorado. The photo below shows the sign you see as you approach the stop sign at US 40:

me, Dec. 2005

Colorado DoT isn't consistent with placing signs at the ends of highway designations, and US 34 is another highway that gets pretty shoddy treatment. As you're sitting at the stop sign just ahead, you have to assume that the sign shown below (on the far side of the road) means that US 34 is all behind you now:

me, Dec. 2005

The shot below was taken from eastbound US 40...

Elbert, July 2005

...and the photo below is from the opposite direction:

me, Dec. 2005

All signs shown in those photos were replaced sometime after May 2000, but the verbiage and structure remained identical. The light blue sign shows a Columbine (Colorado's state flower), which is used to denote the state's official "Scenic Byways". The dark blue sign gives the name of this specific route ("Colorado River Headwaters") and points out directions. If you take that right turn, you're soon greeted by a the mileage sign shown below:

me, Dec. 2006

The control point "Estes Park" on these signs is interesting: it's correct only during summer weather. For the majority of the year, it's not possible to get to Estes that way - as evidenced by the sign posted just beyond the "Speed Limit 60" sign (below):

me, Dec. 2005

In a practical sense, US 34 is more often than not a route with two disconnected segments, separated by a gap through Rocky Mountain National Park. During the snow season, you can drive past the turnoff to Grand Lake, and sometimes up to 10 miles north of the RMNP entrance station. But that's it: if you're trying to connect with US 34 in Estes Park, you'll need to turn around, and then you're looking at a drive of about four hours!

me, Dec. 2006

Snow removal crews strive to have Trail Ridge Road open by Memorial Day, but it's usually closed again by sometime in October. In other words, this westernmost 25-mile stretch of US 34 is isolated from the rest of the highway for about seven months out of each year.

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