For the purpose of faster downloads, I've moved onto separate pages some of the content that used to be on this page. So, don't miss the photos from the south end of US 285 in Sanderson TX.

285 is my favorite US highway. Any road that serves Colorado is special to me - but this road in particular literally connects my life. I've always lived within a few miles of the north end of US 285. My grandparents lived in towns off 285 - that's why I know the highway between Denver and Salida quite well. The mountain I helped name is accessed via 285. And, while one end of the road is in my hometown, the other end is at my namesake: Sanderson.

Beyond those coincidences, though, I also like US 285 because I believe it runs through some of the best scenery in the country. One of my favorite vistas is on 285 southbound from Denver, coming over Kenosha Pass and watching the hillsides suddenly give way and open up to the panorama of South Park - the broad, flat expanse lying between the Front Range and the jagged 14-ers of the Mosquito Range.

Anyway, because of my affinity for this road - and my proximity to its north end - this page goes way beyond the scope of most of my other "End highway" pages. It contains a rather comprehensive report of signage along 285's northernmost segment. Some of the photos below were taken just days before the Hampden Avenue overpass was scheduled to be torn up in January 2004. These last-minute photos document how signage looked immediately before the reconstruction.

During the first ten years of the federal highway numbering system, US 285 began in Denver, as it does now. But the route actually went north from the city - mostly along what is now US 287 - to Laramie WY. I have a separate page for US 285 [I] here.

1936 was a year of big changes for western US highways. That's when the designation "US 285" was given to the same basic route that the highway follows today: southwest from Denver, then through central Colorado, New Mexico, and west Texas. Perhaps one of the biggest changes since 1936 is that US 285 was routed into central Denver then - whereas later it became sort of a bypass around the city. Click here for photos and more info on 285's historic endpoints in the Denver area.

Looks like that shield was recently replaced (perhaps as a part of the changes at I-25 in 2006). Since then, that's the final reference to US 285. In the distance you can see the ridge atop which I-25 runs through the south metro area. Approaching that interchange, the next sign assemblies are shown below:

Now only 20% of Colorado's US route termini are posted with "End" signs: that was the last we've seen of the sign indicating the end of US 285. By 2006, reconstruction of this overpass was complete, and it appeared that signage replacement was done as well.

Below, we'll head the opposite direction (west on Hampden):

In the middle ground, you can see the first mile or so of US 285 (the traffic light barely visible in the distance is the aforementioned Dahlia/Happy Canyon intersection). You can see the auxilliary traffic lights and other signs of the impending construction that was about to take place at this interchange. On a clear day, the vista from the Hampden overpass is spectacular. In this part of town, I-25 runs along a ridge separating two of Denver's major watersheds, and then Hampden sits on top of the freeway. So there's a nice view of downtown to the north, as well as just about the entire Front Range to the west (but unfortunately there's usually too much traffic to do any rubbernecking). In the photo above, that's the Mt. Evans massif on the left. Above the FedEx truck, the left green light is obscuring the little saddle between Chief Mountain and Squaw Mountain (near Squaw Pass). These "twin peaks" are actually not very high, but they're prominent on Denver's horizon because of their proximity to the city. Santa Fe Mountain is the blue peak at far right (near Idaho Springs); visible between it and Squaw is a snow-covered peak: I believe that's Republican Mountain, above Georgetown and Silver Plume.

Below is a closer shot of the green sign, and the "End" signage mounted on its support:

Where CO 30 ends is where US 285 begins. In the photo on the left, the colored pigment in the paint was just about gone - I imagine that sign had been there since 1979. Or maybe it was moved from its original location at 6th and Havana (see map). That's where CO 30 ended when it was originally commissioned in 1955 - at the time Havana was CO 70. US 285 replaced CO 70 in 1969, and then when US 285 was cut back to I-25 in 1979, CO 30 was extended south and west along former US 285/CO 70, ending at this interchange.

As I've said, it used to be that US 285 itself was not signed with directionals until 10 miles west of this point. However, directional signage is used on some of the intersecting highways, and more of it has now appeared along Hampden itself.

Knowing how best to sign Hampden has probably always been a challenge for CDoT. It can be confusing for people who come to an interchange with Hampden, knowing it's an east/west road, but seeing that their options are to go either "North" or "South" on 285. Personally, I think signage for 285 should transition to "East/West" at the C-470 interchange: signs along 285 southwest of there wouldn't change, but east of C-470 it would be considered an east/west route and signed accordingly. Since US 285 terminates in Colorado, this is a viable option for CDoT, because it wouldn't affect any other state, and there are precedents for this type of situation in other states. Signage on 470 would give drivers the option of heading "South" to Fairplay or "East" to Denver. But here's how things are currently:

Feb. 2001

That's from northbound C-470.

Heading south from Denver, US 285 goes through one great place after another. I went to college in Texas - so in the fall of 1988, that was reason enough for me to drive 285 from end to end. After Kenosha Pass and South Park, you go over Trout Creek Pass. Descending its western slope, there are places where Mt. Princeton looms impossibly large right in front of you. Once down in the Arkansas River valley, 285 heads south alongside Princeton and several other 14-ers in the so-called "Collegiate Peaks" grouping of the southern Sawatch Range. About halfway up Poncha Pass is the turnoff for Marshall Pass, at whose summit is the trailhead that leads to Headwaters Hill. But US 285 continues over Poncha and drops down into the San Luis Valley:

Oct. 1999

I post a photo of this road sign for two reasons: first, "Rio Grande River" is redundant - that's like saying "Great River River". Properly, the stream is called simply the "Rio Grande". Also, you're technically not in Rio Grande drainage until you cross an imperceptible rise running just north of Monte Vista and Alamosa;the San Luis Valley north of there is actually a closed basin. Here you're surrounded by more 14-ers: the San Juan Mountains are west, and the Sangre de Cristos are to the east. Further south: into Espanola and Santa Fe NM - beautiful country, but you'd better have a good map, because you can't count on the poor highway signs to keep you on track. Then into some very stark and remote parts of New Mexico - I remember one point, somewhere on the stretch between Vaughn and Roswell, where the tuner on my radio bounced back and forth from one end of the dial to the other, searching in vain for a signal. It was a welcome sight to finally see the lights of Roswell spread out across the Pecos valley floor. The next morning, through Carlsbad and then into Texas: Pecos, where they're famous for canteloupe; Fort Stockton; and finally Sanderson - which seemed like a pleasant little town despite its location in the middle of nowhere. I hadn't ever seen a roadrunner or a vulture until that trip...

Road photos, cool artwork, and more info about Sanderson are all available on this page.