Alpine Tunnel

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Alpine Tunnel
Official name	Alpine Tunnel
Carries	Rail lines
Crosses	Continental Divide
Total length	540 m (1,772 ft)
Opening date	1882
Destruction date	1910

Alpine Tunnel is a 1,772 feet (540 m) narrow gauge railroad tunnel located east of Pitkin, Colorado on the former Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad route from Denver to Gunnison.

Construction began in January of 1880 and was scheduled to last 6 months, but the railway was completed in July of 1882 by the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad. At an altitude of 11,523 feet (3,512 m), it became the first tunnel constructed through the Continental Divide. It was abandoned in 1910 due to damage in the tunnel and it not being worth repairing with a lack of traffic as the line failed to get much further beyond Gunnison on the west side.

The east portal of the tunnel has collapsed and the west portal has been covered by landslides. The former railbed is now a hiking trail on the east side and a rough road over the former railbed on the west side leads to a restored railroad stationhouse.