Denying The Divide, The Moffat Tunnel

There’s an old anecdote I learned in elementary geography class that goes something like this. If a person were to make their way up to the Continental Divide with two cups of water and then pour one cup of water on the east of the divide and one cup to the west, the water in the eastern cup would end up in the Atlantic and the water in the western cup would likewise end up in the Pacific. The reasoning taking place in this general truism is that the Continental Divide separates all watersheds that drain toward the mighty Mississippi, and those that drain toward the Pacific. I have remained enamored with this story throughout my life. When we moved to Colorado in 2011 one of my first goals was to hike up to the divide and sprinkle some water from my Camelback on each side, imagining how long the water would take to reach its ultimate goal and the routes it would take. Finally, in August of 2012 I summited Pawnee Pass, which sits on the Continental Divide west of Boulder. Standing at 12,550’ it was inspiring to think how the divide had been such a barrier not just for water, but for those pioneers who came before me. Eventually, I placed my feet ether side of the wooden marker and poured a little water to my left and right. Actually, I couldn’t get any to pour out the hose of my water bladder so I sucked some out and spit left and right. C’est la vie.

Interestingly, and not a little disappointingly, a few months later while out hiking I learned a new lesson, this one in history, that left me wondering just where that water on Pawnee Pass actually went.

Make your way up the South Boulder Creek drainage toward its headwaters and you will pass through a wide, serene valley containing the remains of the town of Tolland before the creek abruptly rises into the steep and rocky foundations of James Peak. At this transition there is the popular South Boulder Creek trailhead that leads up to the divide and some beautiful, remote alpine lakes with names like Crater, Forest, Clayton, Heart and Arapaho. The trailhead is reached from the Peak to Peak highway via an eight-mile dirt road that heads west from Rollinsville, parallels South Boulder Creek, and passes through the remains of Tolland, before ending at a parking area near the trailhead. However, long before a hiker arrives, eyes are drawn to a large concrete bunker with a gaping mouth, crammed against the rising mountains. The structure is completely out of place with its surroundings; an angular, block structure with evident Art Deco touches, spitting railroad tracks from its maw. As the large moniker on its forehead indicates, this is the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel, and the tunnel has some grand history behind it. And behind it, literally, up the mountain on the divide, is much of the history of how Moffat Tunnel came into existence.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Denver had a problem. A growing, vibrant city, Denver needed a train route to the west coast. However, the Rocky Mountains and Continental Divide acted as a formidable barrier to that dream. To go west, Denverites had to first grab a train south to Pueblo, or north to Cheyenne, where they could then catch a westbound route to Salt Lake City or the west coast. During that time David Moffat, former Adjunct General of the Colorado Territories, was a wealthy mine owner in Denver and the President of the Denver Rio Grande Railroad. An industrialist, Moffat hatched an ambitious plan in 1902 to solve that problem by building a railroad line from Denver, across the Continental Divide and on to Salt Lake City. The only question was how, and where.

The answer to Moffat’s question of where to build his line would be provided by John Quincy Adams Rollins, an Illinois farmer who had caught gold fever and moved to Colorado back in 1860. Rollins set up a stamp mill for gold in a community west of Boulder called Gold Dirt. Today Gold Dirt is officially named Rollinsville after John Rollins. Rollins was aware that the Utes and Arapaho in the area would winter in the plains east of Boulder and in the summer migrate west across the divide into Middle Park to hunt game. The route they took was named the Old Ute Trail and crossed the Divide just beyond Jenny and Yankee Doodle lakes west of Rollinsville. There is also history of white settlers using the route for wagon passage as early as 1862 to make their way west. Rollins, an entrepreneur always looking for an opportunity, lobbied to build an official road along the Old Ute Trail to Middle Park to provide a means of transporting supplies to the settlers there.

Rollins ultimately competed with Captain Edward Berthoud, who was also building a route from east of the divide into Middle Park. Rollins received approval to begin building his road in 1866. It headed west from Rollinsville, along the S. Boulder Creek watershed, across the divide at what is now known as Rollins Pass, and down into Middle Park near current Winter Park. In 1873 Rollins officially opened the road and began charging tolls. The story goes that Rollins beat Berthoud to have the first road into Middle Park, however Berthoud’s road quickly became the route of choice for moving goods west across the divide from Denver. Today Berthoud’s road is US 40 that runs from Interstate 70 across Berthoud Pass into Winter Park.

Moffat was, from the outset in 1902, interested in building a tunnel through the Continental Divide, but he lacked the funds and approvals to do so. He decided that he would begin by building a standard gauge railway over the divide first and later this line could be used to deliver supplies to both sides where the tunnel would be built. What he needed then was a smooth grade up and over the divide not too far from Denver. Rollins had died in 1894 and the Rollins Pass road had fallen into disrepair. Moffat saw it as the perfect route to build his railway, although there would still need to be much engineering of the route to support a train. In the end, a 23-mile line was constructed which boasted two wooden trestles, three tunnels and a loop spiral. It was the highest standard gauge railway built in North America cresting at 11,660’ at Rollins Pass.

While the railway was primarily used to carry goods and supplies from Denver to Middle Park and beyond, it was also touted as a way for Denverites to escape the heat in the summer, taking picnickers up to Tolland during wildflower season, or all the way up to the top of Rollins Pass where a restaurant, hotel and power station had been built at a stop named Corona. However, problems arose along the line with the onset of winter. Clearing the tracks was difficult and during heavy snowfalls trains could be stranded for days, which affected delivery of mail, newspapers and other time sensitive goods. Also, snow sheds built to hold back snow would also hold in coal smoke that could cause illness or even death. Eventually, the line reached the town of Craig, in Moffat County, CO, but Moffat’s rail line across the divide failed before making it to Salt Lake City. Moffat died in 1911 without ever seeing the start of the tunnel that would bear his name.

While Moffat’s plans to build a train tunnel under the Continental Divide had started as early as 1902, it would be two decades later before approval would be received in the Colorado legislature to take up Moffat’s vision for a faster route west from Denver. In 1923 work started on the pilot hole for the tunnel. The main tunnel was completed in 1927, and on February 26, 1928 the first train passed through it. The tunnel is 6.2 miles long, has an apex of 9,239’ and is the 4th longest railroad tunnel in the US.

The rail bed of Moffat’s overland train route exists to this day as the Moffat Road, although with the collapse of the Needle Eye Tunnel near Corona, it is no longer a through route. Moffat Road is barely traversable today without stout off-road and high clearance four wheel drive vehicles. In 1980 Moffat Road was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Okay, so what about that water anecdote I mentioned at the beginning of this story? Well, a little known fact of Moffat Tunnel is that it should actually be called Moffat Tunnels. Plural. Remember that pilot tunnel that was built in 1923? In the 1930’s Denver was experiencing another problem, this one an issue of water demand for the growing city. Residing on the arid plain, Denver was getting most of its water from snowmelt on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. However, as the city grew so did water demands. Just beyond the Continental Divide, starting in Rocky Mountain National Park and winding its way west to the Gulf of California is the mighty Colorado River, which swells in late spring with the snowmelt from the western slopes of the divide. Denver thought the Colorado could provide that water and began a plan to acquire water rights in Middle Park from the Frazer river, part of the Colorado River watershed. But, how to get water west of the divide back east? In 1936 Denver struck a deal to expand Moffat’s initial pilot tunnel to 10.5’ and route water from the Frazer River on the west side of the divide through the tunnel into S. Boulder Creek. Today, the pilot tunnel delivers water into a large trough hidden on the far side of the main tunnel. You can see part of the trough that empties into S. Boulder Creek as you make your way around the east portal from the trailhead.

Today, as I write this I wonder, did any of that water I left on the west side of Pawnee Pass ever make it to the Pacific, or was it routed via the Frazer to the west portal of Moffat’s tunnel and rerouted toward the Atlantic? Then again, perhaps some yellow-bellied marmot came behind me and just lapped it all up.