Worth your time while visiting Georgetown. This area offers many high country hiking trails as well as a good chance to see wild animals, beautiful fall colors and many other photo opportunities typical of the Colorado Rockies. A two lane mountain road with some switchbacks and sharp curves, so caution is advised.
The views are spectacular. Be sure to bring your camera.We went on a Saturday and there was quite a bit of traffic. An overall great Colorado experience!
The pass is closed after December 1 but you can drive to Naylor Lake (0.8 miles from the top) and walk the remainder of the road on hard packed snow. The view is marvelous.
Well worth spending the day. Give yourself a full day. We were on our way to Breckenridge and stopped in GEORGETOWN (love that town) someone told us to drive up the pass. We stopped about 5-7 times to eat lunch and take picture. A MUST.
You can't beat a drive through this pass for scenery. We went in September for awesome fall colors. However, be aware that traffic can be heavy during certain times of the year and you can experience delays. There is a lot of construction on the road that can also cause delays.
There are several hikes at the top of the pass, including Mt. Bierstadt which can be crowded even mid-week. But many other beautiful hikes are accessed from the west side of the road and below the top of the pass on the way to Georgetown. My favorites are Square Top Lakes and Silver Dollar Lake. The South side of the pass is undergoing improvements and was closed this fall during mid-day. Check on-line to see if the road is open before heading out to Grant. The work done on the Georgetown side is amazing - and well worth the drive. Summer and Fall are the best times to see wildflowers and yellow aspen. If you are lucky you may see the bighorn sheep that reside there.
and Guanella is one of 'em. Currently doing a lot of road work on pass, but this is another spectacular pass with chances to see moose, mountain goat, and big horn sheep on every triip. The "bird-ers" seem to like this spot a lot. LOTS of wonderful tundra hiking.Other wonderous mountain passes include Independence, and Gore.
Guenella Pass was one of many passes we traveled for Fall foliage. Overall experience was okay, mainly because of construction activities that blocked two-way traffic. We had to wait for 20+ minutes at each construction junction. Lot of bikers on road, so need to drive carefully.Fall colors were nice with many photo op stops. Guanella Pass probably wouldn't top the charts in presence of gorgeous other passes like like Independence/Kebler/Keshoa. If you are in vicinity, surely visit it.
Been over it twice and bighorn sheep were on or by the road. A very beautiful drive thru a high mountain pass on a well maintained dirt road.
This pass is ablaze with colorful aspens and maples this time of year. Pass waterfall and lakes between Georgetown and the summit. Wished we had more time because we found that this pass goes clear through to Breckenridge.