Marshall Pass
Encyclopedia
Salida, Colorado
The City of Salida is a Statutory City that is the county seat and most populous city of Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The population was 5,504 at the U.S. Census 2000.-History:800px|thumb|left| Panoramic View of Salida, 1910...
and Gunnison
Gunnison, Colorado
The historic City of Gunnison, a Home Rule Municipality, is the county seat and the most populous city of Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,854. It was named in honor of John W...
at the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
. Marshall Pass was discovered by, and named for, Lt. William L. Marshall of the Wheeler Survey
Wheeler Survey
The Wheeler Survey was a survey of a portion of the United States lying west of the 100th meridian. It comprised multiple expeditions, and was supervised by First Lieutenant George Montague Wheeler....
in 1873.
Marshall Pass was part of Denver & Rio Grande's
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to Rio Grande or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, is a defunct U.S. railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado in 1870; however, served mainly as a transcontinental...
narrow gauge transcontinental route from Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
to Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
.The railroad line was completed in 1881 ahead of the Denver, South Park & Pacific's
Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad
The Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad was a historic narrow gauge railway that operated in Colorado in the western United States in the late 19th century. The railroad opened up the first rail routes to a large section of the central Colorado mining district in the decades of the mineral boom...
Alpine Tunnel
Alpine Tunnel
Alpine Tunnel is a narrow gauge railroad tunnel located east of Pitkin, Colorado on the former Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad route from Denver to Gunnison. At an elevation of , it was the first tunnel constructed through the Colorado Continental Divide, and according to the U.S. Forest...
. The line closed with the Gunnison Division in 1955 and the rails were removed the same year.
Marshall Pass, Colorado was a small settlement, railroad station and post office, located at the pass. The population was 11 in 1948; there were six buildings then. Time Magazine called it "the U.S.'s smallest post office."
The line saw the daily Shavano
Shavano (passenger train)
The Shavano was a named passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad between Salida and Gunnison, Colorado. The train, named for nearby Mount Shavano, operated over the railroad's historic narrow gauge route over Marshall Pass...
passenger train until this ended.
Today, a gravel road still follows the old railroad route over the summit, in northern Saguache County
Saguache County, Colorado
Saguache County is the seventh most extensive of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county name comes from a Ute language word meaning “blue earth” or “water at blue earth”. The county population was 5,917 at U.S. Census 2000...
. In the summer and late fall, this drive is especially beautiful. It may be driven by regular passenger cars in good conditions.
Marshall Pass is just a few miles south of Monarch Pass. From the east take US 285 south from Poncha Springs (near Salida) about 6 miles to CR 200 and turn right; from the west turn right off US 50 at Sargents. While grades are gentler (the railroad had a ruling grade of 4%) than US 50 over Monarch (7% grades), please note that the Marshall Pass Road is closed to wheeled vehicles during the winter months. Marshall Pass is usually—but not always—a better route for small aircraft passing over the continental divide than the Monarch Pass.