After years of repairs, a historic road deep in the Rocky Mountains has finally reopened — just in time for fall.
The Alpine Tunnel Road, about 35 miles east of Gunnison, dates back to the 1880s. It started as railroad line that led to what was once the highest train tunnel in the world at more than 11,500 feet in elevation. After the railroad closed down a few decades later, the route became a popular spot for off-roading, with generations of people adventuring on the narrow, rugged route held up by a series of rock walls.
In 2016, an avalanche damaged one of those walls, the historic Palisade Wall, which forced the partial closure of the roadway. Starting in 2022, workers were finally able to repair the 430-foot-long wall and reopen the rough-and-tumble roadway to the public.
Dayle Funka, district ranger with Gunnison Ranger District, said crews used local stones and many of the same methods the original builders did more than a century ago.
The 13-mile road leads to the Alpine Tunnel, which has long since been blocked off for safety due to multiple cave-ins. The U.S. Forest Service has preserved a scattering of old buildings, known as Alpine Station, surrounded by rocky peaks and stands of trees. Funka said that historic train tracks acquired from collectors add to the feeling that you’re stepping back in time.
Add skittering pikas chirping away, she called a visit to the historic district “a magical experience."
The rehab project started in 2022 and used a combination of state and local funds, along with money from the Great American Outdoors Act and the National Forest Foundation.
People come from all over the world to visit this historic district to hike or bike, but it’s especially popular for those driving motorized vehicles like motorcycles and ATVs.
Funka laughed while remembering once making the trek in a Subaru.
Though remote, she said the area is also a source of pride for the nearby tiny community of Pitkin.
When it was announced that the roadway would be closed for repairs this year, the U.S. Forest Service did hear grumblings from disappointed folks, “but for the most part, everybody was pretty respectful that they wanted to see this reconstruction happen so that we could use it into the future and have it available for future generations,” Funka said. ‘
There still is one hiccup when visiting the historic district: a large boulder that’s a little less than a mile from the historic tunnel. Visitors can park at the intersection of the Alpine Tunnel Road and Williams Road, and walk the rest of the way.
The historic district and its newly repaired roadway will stay open until snow makes the area unsafe, typically sometime in October.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the tunnel was blocked off but not filled in and that the historic tracks were acquired from collectors.
