Colorado Web Cams

Rabbit Ears Pass, Colorado

(Note: This page may need reloading on some browsers for new views)

Rabbit Ears Pass (elevation 9,426 feet, 2,873 meters) is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado, located to the east of Steamboat Springs. The summit has the shape of a rabbit's ears, which is two large columns of basalt rock formations from a volcanic episode years ago.

Rabbit Ears is not your average mountain pass. Instead of climbing to a high point and then quickly descending, Rabbit Ears Pass climbs to around 10,000 feet and stays there for several miles. It’s also one of the snowiest roads in Colorado, especially for one that’s open year-round.

Free, dispersed camping is easy to find on most dirt roads on the pass. There are also two campgrounds, Meadows Lake and Dumont Lake with reasonable nightly fees. Once the snow settles, snowmobilers can be seen on the pass daily. Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are common, too.

The pass area covers 56 square miles / 145.04 km at the junction of the Rabbit Ears Range and the Park Range. The Rabbit Ear Pass highway, which is one of the most important transcontinental road links in the nation, was built by the state of Colorado, Routt, Grand, and Jackson counties, and the United States Forest Service. It was started in 1911 and was not completed until 1917. This pass offers habitat to many different animal species supporting  important winter and summering ranges for many animals. Species commonly seen on the pass range from elk, mule deer, and moose, to black bears, foxes, long-tailed weasels, snowshoe hares, and a variety of bird species. The winter snowpack provides a seasonal habitat for many non-hibernating burrowing animals such as voles, lemmings, and shrews. The snowpack helps to make a subnivean zone, which is a porous material composed mostly of air acting as a reliable thermal insulator.

Rabbit Ears Pass, typically receives around 300 inches (762 cm) of snowfall annually, often creating an average peak snowpack of 100 inches (254 cm).

US 40 5.5 mi W of Rabbit Ears Pass, looking west

US 40 - Rabbit Ears Pass 0.1 miles West Star Ridge Rd

US 40 - West of Rabbit Ears Pass, looking west
 (cams from CDOT)

- Rabbit Ears Pass Map -