Wednesday, September 23 2026

Road Video and Map

In the summer of 2024 I decided to do a fall trip following the Colorado River from its source to its point of leaving the U.S into Mexico (because major rental car companies don’t allow their cars to be driven in Mexico).

I planned it in detail but, towards the end of summer, developed a hip issue that made it extremely painful to sit for long periods at a time and which seemed to be at its worst when I was in a car or plane. I decided to postpone for a year but, in August 2025, my brother was admitted to hospital in the U.K.with life threatening symptoms from which, unfortunately, he was not able to recover. By the time I returned to the U.S. the date for a viable trip had passed so I re-planned everything for the third time in 2026 and, so far (on day two) everything is great.

Yesterday I flew to Denver, picked up my rental car, drove about 60 miles north to get into position for today and prepared the car for recording road videos.

The time sensitivity for the trip is because I want to see the fall colors in Rocky Mountain National Park which, typically, occurs sometime within the last 10 days of September and the first two weeks of October. However, I also wanted to start the trip at the headwaters of the Colorado River which is located on the continental divide at the end of a 13 mile dirt road. At that elevation significant snowfalls occur as early as the first week of October and close the dirt road – leaving about 10 days in the year when I could begin the trip.

The source of the Colorado is at La Poudre Pass over the continental divide. To the east of the divide the meltwater forms the Poudre River which flows through the spectacular Poudre Canyon (a highlight of my morning drive that is marked on the road video map). That river flows into the Platte river, then the Missouri and, finally, the Mississippi before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

On the west side the meltwater forms a small Colorado stream which gradually grows into the mighty river. Unfortunately, this year it is far from mighty as water levels are at their lowest since the construction of the large Colorado dams started during the Great Depression.

Although the Colorado headwaters are only a half mile from the parking area you have to take a walk into Rocky Mountain National Park and then back out again to get there.

As with most rivers, the source is just a stream and, in this case, it flows off the pass forming a little waterfall.

The dirt road was open, the weather was dry until mid afternoon and the drive was great. Approaching the continental divide from the east offered plenty of good mountain scenery for the dash cam. I had a pleasant walk to the source of the Colorado, returning to the car just as the first spots of rain arrived. Although the drive to Granby was less scenic with a few heavy showers it did provide patches of yellow and gold fall colors. Overall, a great start to a long delayed trip.