Fremont Pass | |
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Elevation | 11,318 ft (3,450 m) |
Traversed by | SH 91 |
Location | Lake County, Colorado, United States |
Range | Rocky Mountains |
Coordinates | 39°21′59″N 106°11′12″W / 39.36639°N 106.18667°W |
Topo map | USGS Climax |
Fremont Pass is a 11,318-foot (3,450 m) mountain pass in central Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States.
It forms the continental divide on the border between Lake County and Summit County. The pass is named for John C. Frémont,[1] 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 is the site of Climax Mine, 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.