| Black Bear Pass | |
| Elevation Ft: | 12,840 |
| Traversed: | Unpaved road |
| Location: | San Juan / San Miguel counties, Colorado, U.S. |
| Range: | Rocky Mountains |
| Coordinates: | 37.8995°N -151.5783°W |
Black Bear Road or Black Bear Pass, and officially Forest Service Road 648, is a dirt road that starts from the 11018feet summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 (between Ouray and Silverton) to Telluride, Colorado.[1] [2] The road crests at Black Bear Pass, elevation 12840feet, and descends over a set of switchbacks as it navigates the heights above Telluride. The road passes Bridal Veil Falls, the highest waterfall in Colorado. In 1975, the road was the subject of a spoken-word song and album of the same title by country musician C. W. McCall.[3] Black Bear Road is open a few months of the year, from late summer (usually the last week of July) to early fall.[2] [4] 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 was formerly marked along U.S. 550 with a sign that read:[5]