Black Bear Road
Black Bear Road or Black Bear Pass, and officially Forest Service Road 648, is a notorious jeep road trail that starts from summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 to Telluride, Colorado. The road crests at Black Bear Pass, elevation, and descends over a set of infamous switchbacks as it navigates the heights above Telluride. The road passes Bridal Veil Falls, the highest waterfall in Colorado. Black Bear Road was made famous in 1975 by a spoken-word song and album of the same title by country musician C. W. McCall.
Black Bear Road is open a few months of the year, from late summer to early fall. The road is traveled only downhill from Red Mountain Pass — except for the annual Jeeper's Jamboree in which travel is reversed for one day only. The start of the trail is marked along U.S. 550 with the famous sign that reads:
