U.S. Route 40 in Colorado

U.S. Route 40
Map of Colorado with US 40 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by CDOT
Length:	496.442 mi[1] (798.946 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US-40 at the Utah state line
	US 34 near Granby I-70 / US 6 at Empire SH 470 in Golden US 287 from Denver to Kit Carson I-25 / US 85 / US 87 in Denver I-225 in Aurora US 36 near Aurora E-470 near Aurora I-70 from Watkins to Limon US 385 at Cheyenne Wells
East end:	US-40 east of Arapahoe at the Kansas state line
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced Colorado State Highways Interstate U.S. State Scenic ← SH 39 SH 41 →

View along US 40 in Mount Vernon Canyon, Colorado, 1942. Photo by Andreas Feininger.

In the U.S. state of Colorado, U.S. Route 40 is a major east–west route. It crosses the Rocky Mountains, passing over the Continental Divide at Berthoud Pass before descending to the front range. It then traverses through the Denver Metro Area, then exits by following I-70 and US 287. It is concurrent with US 287 for about 145 miles to Kit Carson. US 40 exits into Kansas east of Arapahoe in Cheyenne.

Route description

Entering Colorado to the south of Dinosaur National Monument, U.S. 40 runs east through the small town of Dinosaur along Brontosaurus Boulevard. The route continues a generally easterly course though Moffat and Routt counties, passing through several small communities along the way. It generally follows the course of the Yampa River. U.S. 40 becomes Lincoln Avenue as it runs through historic downtown Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Taking a circuitous route through Rabbit Ears Pass, Muddy Pass and Berthoud Pass it descends the escarpment along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. Just to the east of Empire, it merges with Interstate 70 for the first time. US 40 and I-70 will frequently share pavement across the U.S. The route leaves I-70 at exit 244, to the west of Idaho Springs and rejoins it again at between exits 252 and 254 in El Rancho. It parallels I-70, mostly as a frontage road, until the intersection with State Highway 26 to the south of Golden^[2][3]

Beginning in Golden, US 40 becomes Colfax Avenue, the main east–west thoroughfare through the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. Along with US 40, the entire route along Colfax Avenue is cosigned as Business Loop 70. The route travels northeast through Golden, then turns due east to travel through Lakewood, Denver, and Aurora. Among the sights to be seen along US 40 is Lake Steam Bath, once the location of a thriving health industry centered on tuberculosis sanatoriums. Also along Colfax Avenue in Denver is the Denver branch of the United States Mint, which produces 50 million coins per day. US 40 rejoins I-70 at exit 288, just to the east of Aurora.^[3][4][5]

At exit 359 in Limon, US 40 leaves I-70 along Main Street, which it shares with Business Loop 70, US 24, US 287, and SH 71. US 40/US 287 continues to the southeast to the town of Kit Carson. From there, it leaves US 287 and continues east through the towns of Cheyenne Wells and Arapahoe before entering the state of Kansas.^[3][4]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[6]	km	Destinations	Notes
Moffat	​	0.000	0.000	US-40 west – Utah, Salt Lake City
	Dinosaur	2.913	4.688	SH 64 east (Stegosaurus Freeway) – Rangely
	Blue Mountain	11.018	17.732	CR 134 – Rangely	former SH 387
	Maybell	59.781	96.208	SH 318 west – Sunbeam
	Craig	89.322	143.750	SH 13 south / CR 7 – Meeker	West end of SH 13 overlap; former SH 355 north
		90.531	145.696	SH 394 south (Ranney Street)	former SH 13 south
		90.838	146.190	SH 13 north (Yampa Avenue) – Baggs, Rawlins	East end of SH 13 overlap
Routt	Steamboat Springs	130.773	210.459	CR 129 (Elk River Road) – Clark, Hahns Peak, Steamboat Lake State Park, Pearl Lake State Park	former SH 129
		134.414	216.318	Mt. Werner Road	Interchange
	​	136.515	219.700	SH 131 south – Oak Creek, Wolcott, Stagecoach Reservoir State Park
Grand	No major junctions
		154.070	247.952	Rabbit Ears Pass summit (Continental Divide)
Jackson	​	157.327	253.193	SH 14 east – Walden
		157.512	253.491	Muddy Pass summit (Continental Divide)
Grand	​	178.257	286.877	SH 134 west – Toponas, Stagecoach Reservoir State Park
	Kremmling	184.529	296.971	SH 9 south (6th Street) – Dillon
	​	209.165	336.618	SH 125 north – Walden
	Granby	211.081	339.702	US 34 east – Grand Lake, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho National Forest
		242.972	391.026	Berthoud Pass summit (Continental Divide)
Clear Creek	​	257.684 232.333	414.702 373.904	I-70 west (US 6 west) – Georgetown	West end of I-70/US 6 overlap
	​	232.333– 244.260	373.904– 393.098	See I-70
	​	244.260 257.146	393.098 413.836	I-70 east – Denver	East end of I-70 overlap; no access from US 40 west to I-70 east
	​	257.751 269.441	414.810 433.623	US 6 east to SH 119 – Blackhawk, Central City, Golden	East end of US 6 overlap
	​	271.489	436.919	To I-70 west / Beaver Brook Drive – Floyd Hill
Jefferson	​	272.552	438.630	To I-70 east
	​	276.180	444.469	I-70 west
	​	276.920 0.374	445.660 0.602	SH 74 east (Evergreen Parkway) – Evergreen
	​	0.194 251.318	0.312 404.457	I-70 west	West end of I-70 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	​	252.244	405.947	Chief Hosa	I-70 exit 253
	​	253.528 279.244	408.014 449.400	I-70 east	East end of I-70 overlap
	​	280.570	451.534	Lookout Mountain Road - Buffalo Bill's Grave & Museum, Lookout Mountain Nature Center, Boettcher Mansion	former SH 68
	​	281.977	453.798	To I-70 / Grapevine Road
	Golden	284.888	458.483	I-70 Bus. west / CR 93 to I-70	West end of I-70 Bus. overlap; former SH 26 (older SH 93 south)
		285.716	459.815	Heritage Road	former SH 93 north
		286.871	461.674	US 6 (6th Avenue) to SH 470 – Golden, Central City
	​	287.903	463.335	I-70
	Lakewood	291.444	469.034	SH 391 (Kipling Street)
		292.943	471.446	SH 121 (Wadsworth Boulevard)
		294.273	473.586	SH 95 (Sheridan Boulevard)
City and County of Denver		296.157	476.618	US 287 north / SH 88 south (Federal Boulevard)	West end of US 287 overlap; interchange
		296.792	477.640	I-25 (US 6 / US 85 / US 87) / Auraria Parkway – Colorado Springs, Fort Collins
		300.625	483.809	SH 2 (Colorado Boulevard)
Adams–Arapahoe county line	Aurora	306.341	493.008	I-225 to I-70
		312.142 288.219	502.344 463.844	I-70 (US 36 west) – Denver	West end of I-70 / US 36 overlap; east end of I-70 Bus. overlap; no access from US 40 east to I-70 west
See I-70 for exits
Lincoln	Limon	359.499 0.498	578.558 0.801	I-70 east	West end of I-70 Bus. overlap; east end of I-70 overlap
		0.000 376.714	0.000 606.262	US 24 west – Colorado Springs	West end of US 24 overlap
		377.668	607.798	SH 71 south	West end of SH 71 overlap
		378.795	609.611	SH 71 north (1st Avenue) – Brush	East end of SH 71 overlap
		379.193	610.252	I-70
	​	380.464 386.010	612.297 621.223	I-70 (US 24 east)	East end of I-70 Bus./US 24 overlap
	​	397.833	640.250	CR 109 – Genoa	former SH 109 north
	Hugo	399.092	642.276	Third Avenue	former SH 109 south
Cheyenne	Aroya	425.472	684.731	SH 94 west – Colorado Springs
	Kit Carson	445.142	716.387	SH 59 north – Seibert
	​	446.051	717.850	US 287 south – Eads	East end of US 287 overlap
	Cheyenne Wells	470.311	756.892	US 385 north (5th Street) – Burlington	West end of US 385 overlap
	​	470.885	757.816	US 385 south – Sheridan Lake	East end of US 385 overlap
	​	486.924	783.628	US-40 east – Kansas
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• Victory Highway

Related U.S. Routes

• U.S. Highway 340

References

1. Colorado Department of Transportation, Highway Data, accessed July 2007
2. Brusca, Frank X. (2002). "US 40 Scrapbook: Colorado". U.S. Route 40: America's Golden Highway. route40.net. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
3. Salek, Matthew E. (2006). "US 40". Colorado Highways. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
4. Mapsource. Garmin Ltd. 2003.
5. Royston, Reggie (2001). "Denver's Road of Riches: Colfax Avenue". National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
6. Colorado Department of Transportation, Highway Data Explorer, accessed November 2013

External links