Fremont Pass (Colorado)
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Fremont Pass | |
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Fremont Pass at the bottom of this shaded-relief topographic map |
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Elevation | 3450 m./11,318 ft. |
Location | Colorado, United States |
Range | Rocky Mountains |
Coordinates | |
Topo map | USGS Climax |
Traversed by | State Highway 91 |
Fremont Pass (el. 3450 m./11,318 ft.) is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States.
It forms the continental divide on the border between Lake County and Summit County. The pass is named for John C. Fremont, an explorer of the American West who discovered the pass while traversing present-day Colorado during the 1840s. The pass provides a route between the upper valley of the Blue River (a tributary of the Colorado River, with the headwaters of the Arkansas River to the south. The pass summit at Climax is the site of a molybdenum mine. The pass is traversed by State Highway 91.
Despite being one of the highest mountain passes in the state, the only steep part is the switchback on the final ascent toward the Climax mine on the south side. The rest of the pass is gentle.