South Platte River Trail
Colorado Scenic Byway 19 mi in Colorado.
About the South Platte River Trail
Although the shortest of Colorado's 26 byways, the South Platte River Trail is long on history. In the 19th century it lay on the main route westward, and was used by tens of thousands of pioneers lured by the promise of wealth, land and freedom.
Beginning at the Colorado Welcome Center, this 19-mile loop features interpretive signage at the original Julesburg townsite, the location of Colorado's only Pony Express home station, and Fort Sedgwick, established in 1864 to protect the trail and telegraph line. Additional markers commemorate the other three Julesburg townsites, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the Lincoln Highway—the first coast-to-coast automobile road in the United States.
Colorado Department of Transportation's own description, in its words. Byway page on codot.gov.
Camping along the byway
No public campground this site holds lies within 5 miles of the road.
About this page's facts
The line is the Federal Highway Administration's scenic byways layer (HEPGIS, a snapshot of 2022-06-24, a US government work), cut at the state line and simplified for the map; the length is the line's. The designation is the program's own: the national tiers from FHWA's America's Byways roster, the rest from the layer's designation field. Road conditions, closures and seasonal gates change: check the agency's own page and the state's road conditions before you go.