Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway
Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway is a National Scenic Byway in Colorado. Within Colorado it covers roughly 90 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway is a 103-mile National Scenic Byway in south-central Colorado, tracing a wishbone-shaped route between Pueblo, Westcliffe, and Colorado City. From its western end in Westcliffe, the byway follows State Highway 96 east through Silver Cliff and into the Wet Mountains, climbing past Hardscrabble Mountain roughly 16 miles out before splitting onto State Highway 165 toward its southern and eastern legs. Both a federally designated National Scenic Byway and a Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway, the route mixes high mountain forest in the Wet Mountains with the shortgrass plains around Pueblo, crossing terrain that shaped historic wagon routes between the mountains and the frontier settlements of the plains. Because the road forms a wishbone rather than a straight line, drivers backtrack about 16 miles near the split to cover both legs, making it more of a full-day loop than a quick point-to-point drive. The mix of designations reflects both the scenery in the Wet Mountains stretch and the historic wagon-road corridors the byway preserves on the plains side.
- Pueblo, Westcliffe, Colorado City
- 103 miles (wishbone route)
- National Scenic Byway
- SH-96 / SH-165
- Wet Mountains
- Custer & Pueblo counties
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What is a National Scenic Byway?
National Scenic Byways are roads recognized at the federal level for at least one outstanding quality — scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational — that gives travelers a reason to seek them out rather than just pass through.
Where to Stay along Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway.
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