The Alpine Tunnel: a narrow-gauge railroad under the Divide

High in the mountains east of Gunnison, a narrow-gauge railroad once burrowed straight through the Continental Divide. The route is gone, but its bones remain as the Alpine Tunnel Historic District.

In the early 1880s, the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad bored the Alpine Tunnel to reach the mining country around Gunnison. Narrow gauge means the rails sat closer together than a standard railroad, which let small trains thread tight mountain curves. The tunnel was hard to build and costly to keep open, and the line through it did not last long. Today the district preserves about a dozen miles of old railbed along with stone walls, a telegraph office, and other remnants on national forest land managed by the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest.

Why this matters beyond curiosity: it shows how far railroads went to reach Gunnison’s mines, and why the easy-looking lines on an old map were so expensive that many failed. The site is also a protected historic district, so its ruins and artifacts are meant to stay where they are.

For visiting details and the district’s history, check the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest and History Colorado.