Stage 3 · Buena Vista to Tincup and back
Divide day: Cottonwood Pass
The longest day: two crossings of the Continental Divide via Taylor Park and Tincup.
Indicative candidate route, not a final course. Lines follow real public roads, but the final course depends on land-manager permits, the safety plan and the landowner. Distances and climbing are approximate.
The route
From Buena Vista the stage climbs west on County Road 306 to Cottonwood Pass, drops toward Taylor Park, then takes gravel roads south to the old mining town of Tincup. It returns north on Cumberland Pass Road to Taylor Park and climbs back over the Divide to finish in Buena Vista.
| Distance | ≈ 75 mi (candidate line) |
| Climbing | ≈ 7,300 ft (sum of gains, USGS elevations) |
| High point | Cottonwood Pass, 12,126 ft (crossed twice); highest sampled point 12,111 ft |
| Surface | The pass road is paved on both sides since 2019 (Chaffee County Road 306, Gunnison County Road 209). The Taylor Park side adds gravel: Burma Road, Cow Creek Road and Cumberland Pass Road (County Road 765) to Tincup. About 20% unpaved by OpenStreetMap surface tags. |
| Start | Buena Vista (transfer from Leadville, about 34 road miles) |
| Finish | Buena Vista |
| Aid, cutoff, crew and alternates | Race operations for this stage, below |
Map and profile
Google's driving route for the outbound half: Buena Vista, Cottonwood Pass, Tincup and Taylor Park. The return over the pass to Buena Vista is the same road in reverse.
Elevation profile
Miles (x) and feet (y). Elevations sampled every 300 m from the USGS 3DEP elevation service along the candidate line. Approximate.
ProposedPlanned aid
Every location below is a candidate, subject to permits, land-manager approval and the safety plan. The proposed support model is self-supported with neutral aid, fully swept: riders carry what they need between aid points, aid stations are neutral, and a sweep follows the last rider.
| Candidate location | Approx. mile | Services | Crew access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottonwood Pass summit, outbound (candidate) | about 19 | Water, food, medical, radio | Yes |
| Tincup (candidate) | about 34 | Water, food, mechanical | Yes |
| Taylor Park, county-road junction near the reservoir (candidate) | about 42 | Water, food, mechanical, medical | Yes |
| Cottonwood Pass summit, return (candidate) | about 56 | Water, medical, radio | Yes |
ProposedCutoff basis
Candidate cutoff at Taylor Park, county-road junction near the reservoir. Taylor Park is the last point before the second climb to 12,126 feet. The cutoff there keeps riders from starting the return over the Divide too late to clear the summit before afternoon storms. Times will be set in the course design with the medical plan.
IllustrativeTo show the scale: Taylor Park, county-road junction near the reservoir is about 41.7 miles into the stage. If a cutoff there fell 5.5 hours after the start, a rider would need to average about 7.6 mph, stops included, to make it. That window is an illustration for planning, not a proposed cutoff time.
ProposedCrew access
Candidate crew zones, subject to permits and road access. Some high sections will have no crew access. The table above marks which candidate aid points a crew could reach by ordinary vehicle. See crew and support for how crews would work.
Under considerationGetting to the start
This stage starts in Buena Vista, about 34 road miles south of Leadville on US 24, roughly 45 minutes by car. Whether the race runs an organized transfer from Leadville or riders drive themselves is under consideration. Either way, the start time would allow for the drive.
PendingFire and closure note
No closure is known to affect this stage's roads as of September 2026, but conditions for 2027 are unknown. Like every stage, it follows land-manager closure orders and the smoke and air-quality go/no-go described on the course page.
Under considerationBad-weather or closure alternate (candidate)
Below-treeline turnaround and the Midland grade. If the summit is unsafe or the Gunnison side is closed, riders would turn on Cottonwood Pass Road (Chaffee County Road 306) below treeline, near mile 16 at about 11,100 feet, return to Buena Vista and add the old Colorado Midland Railway grade on Chaffee County Road 371 north of town, a dirt road along the Arkansas River through the railroad's rock tunnels. Any alternate is subject to permits, sanctioning and insurance, and the rules for shortening a stage are in the rules and policies.
ProposedGPX
Indicative candidate route, not for race-day navigation. The line follows public roads from OpenStreetMap data and will change with permits and the safety plan.
How it races
This is the endurance test. The first climb from Buena Vista is steady and paved, but it is long, and it tops out above 12,000 feet. The gravel loop on the Taylor Park side is rolling rather than steep, and it is where small groups form.
The second ascent of the pass from Taylor Park is shorter than the first, but it comes late in a long day. The descent to Buena Vista is paved and fast, so riders who arrive at the summit together will likely finish together.
The stage starts lower than any other day, near 8,000 feet in Buena Vista, which makes it the biggest single climb of the week from valley floor to summit.
History of the road
Cottonwood Pass crosses the Continental Divide on the line between Chaffee and Gunnison counties. A project to widen, realign and pave the road ran from 2017 to September 2019, and it is now the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in the United States. It closes for snow from around October until sometime in May.
Tincup began as a placer camp after prospector Jim Taylor panned gold from Willow Creek in 1859 and carried it back in a tin cup. Lode discoveries in 1878 brought a town, laid out as Virginia City in 1879, with 1,495 residents by the 1880 census. Confusion with other Virginia Cities led to the name Tin Cup in 1882. The mines played out, and the post office closed in 1918.
Taylor Park Reservoir, passed on the way to and from Tincup, is held by the 1937 Taylor Park Dam on the Taylor River, a Bureau of Reclamation project that stores water for the Uncompahgre Valley.