Stage 5 · Leadville to the Park County side and back
Weston Pass
A long gravel grinder over the old Leadville–Fairplay wagon road.
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
The stage leaves Leadville on gravel county roads, crosses the valley near the National Fish Hatchery road, runs south through Lodgepole Flats and picks up Weston Pass Road. It crosses the pass, descends the South Fork of the South Platte to Weston Pass Campground, turns, and returns the same way.
| Distance | ≈ 56 mi (candidate line) |
| Climbing | ≈ 5,500 ft (sum of gains, USGS elevations) |
| High point | Weston Pass, 11,921 ft (crossed twice); highest sampled point 11,925 ft |
| Surface | Mostly gravel: county roads southwest of town and through Lodgepole Flats, then Weston Pass Road (Lake County Road 7) to the pass and Park County Road 22 down the east side. Short paved links in the valley. About 80% unpaved by OpenStreetMap surface tags. |
| Start | Leadville, Harrison Avenue |
| Finish | Leadville, Harrison Avenue |
| Aid, cutoff, crew and alternates | Race operations for this stage, below |
Map and profile
Google's driving route for the outbound leg: Leadville, Lodgepole Flats, Weston Pass and the campground on the Park County side. The return 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weston Pass Road at the foot of the climb (candidate) | about 17 | Water, food | Yes |
| Weston Pass summit, outbound (candidate) | about 24 | Water, medical, radio | No |
| Park County side near Weston Pass Campground (turnaround) (candidate) | about 28 | Water, food, mechanical, medical | Yes |
| Weston Pass summit, return (candidate) | about 33 | Water, medical, radio | No |
| Weston Pass Road at the foot of the climb, return (candidate) | about 40 | Water, food | Yes |
ProposedCutoff basis
Candidate cutoff at Park County side near Weston Pass Campground (turnaround). The turnaround comes before the second crossing of an 11,921-foot pass. The cutoff keeps riders from starting that climb late enough to meet afternoon storms on top. Times will be set in the course design with the medical plan.
IllustrativeTo show the scale: Park County side near Weston Pass Campground (turnaround) is about 28.3 miles into the stage. If a cutoff there fell 4 hours after the start, a rider would need to average about 7.1 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.
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. Parts of the Park County side burned in the 2018 Weston Pass Fire.
Under considerationBad-weather or closure alternate (candidate)
Treeline turnaround on the Lake County side. If the summit or the Park County side is closed, or storms arrive early, the stage would hold at a candidate turnaround below treeline on Weston Pass Road (Lake County Road 7), around mile 21 at about 11,000 feet, and return to Leadville on the same valley roads. 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
Weston is a grinder. The road is wide and graded on most of its length, the grades are moderate, and the distance is what hurts. This is a day for riders who can sit on a steady pace for hours.
The return climb from the campground to the summit is the decisive section. On the way back down to the Arkansas valley, groups that stay together can take back time from riders alone in the wind.
Weston is included here as a candidate stage. The number of stages in the first edition is still open, and this day could run alongside or instead of another.
History of the road
A gold strike in California Gulch, just south of present-day Leadville, in 1860 brought prospectors over the Mosquito Range, and the Weston Pass route became a wagon road between Fairplay and Leadville. It ran as a toll road through the 1860s and 1870s and was known as the Road to Riches.
At the peak of the Leadville silver boom in the late 1870s, stage lines and freight outfits crowded the road. Traffic dropped once railroads reached Leadville from 1880 on.
Ten interpretive sites along the road make up the Weston Pass Historic Auto Tour. In June 2018 a lightning-caused wildfire, the Weston Pass Fire, burned about 13,000 acres in Park County, much of it in and near the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness.