Since I've set up this page, I've had many people ask me about how to get to some of these spots. So I thought I'd include a little blurb on this web site discussing how to get to these places. Click here for a printer-friendly version of this web page (with a white background, black text). Remember, this stuff is copyrighted, so use it only for your own personal reference.

Railfanning the eastern Moffat Route - general tips:

Okay, you're going to use CO-72 as your primary road for most of the railfanning on this end of the route (i.e. Rocky to Pinecliffe). To get there from the greater Denver area, find your way to CO-93, which runs north-south between Golden and Boulder along the front range. CO-93 intersects CO-72 south of Boulder. They actually intersect right at the mouth of Coal Creek Canyon, near Rocky siding on the Moffat line. CO-72 can be used to access places in Coal Creek Canyon, Plainview, Crescent, and Pinecliffe. If you follow CO-72 all the way west it will eventually meet CO-119, a north-south road. Heading south on 119 leads you to Rollinsville, which is where you meet the dirt road to Tolland and the Moffat Tunnel.

Coal Creek Canyon

Coal Creek Canyon is a favorite of mine because it's so close to Denver, so it's easy to get to, and it offers a wide variety of photo opportunities for all kinds of lighting situations as long as you move around with respect to the sun. Be sure to check out my map of Coal Creek Canyon. There are two recommended parking spots - one is to get off CO-72 by making a left at Blue Mountain road, then heading up that road and parking near the grade crossing. This offers you access to the south side of the canyon. If you'd like to photograph around the north side of the canyon and near tunnel #1, you should continue up 72 until you go underneath the railroad bridge - you can park in a turnout immediately on the right after passing under the bridge. Hike up to the tracks, and you'll find a bunch of cool spots for photography. Up towards tunnel #1 there's a nice square rock to sit on. Just thought I'd let you know! There's also a set of signals near the bridge that you can watch to get an idea of when trains are coming.

Plainview

The town and siding of Plainview is just north of Coal Creek Canyon along the front range. You can get to it by making a right off 72 onto Plainview Road (a dirt road). This road is just before the Blue Mountain Road turnoff (which is on the left). If you go under the railroad bridge you've gone too far. Refer to the map of the Plainview area. After cruising down this dirt road for a seemingly-endless amount of time you'll eventually end up at Plainview siding. Yes, there are No Trespassing signs every six feet, so be careful where you park, and use some common sense. Word to the wise: you WILL get trapped on the west side of the siding if a train decides to park there, so if you don't intend to spend a whole lot of time there, you'd better consider parking somewhere on the east side of the tracks. It is worth your while to hike up (north) to Rainbow Cut. The strata in the cut is gorgeous, and it makes a nice backdrop for your pictures.

Everything In Between Plainview and Crescent (tunnels 2 through 18)

Most of the questions I've recieved have to do with how I got to this part of the line. It's not easy, but it can be done if you're willing to do a little hiking and the weather is favorable.

If you start from Plainview, you can make your way up to tunnels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. There's some great spots between tunnels 2 and 3, and also between tunnels 4 and 5. Tunnels 3, 5, and 7 are especially impressive since they are bored straight through flat irons. This area has a lot to offer, and I've only scratched the surface. Once again, you may want to refer to my map of this area.

Getting to tunnels 8 and 10 isn't too bad. You can get to them by going into Eldorado Canyon State Park, and getting a trail map there. There's a trail called the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail, which takes you from the bottom of the canyon right up to the tracks. It actually drops you off right in front of the east portal of tunnel 10. It's a pretty steep hike - you go up about 1200 feet in elevation, so if hiking isn't for you than this trail isn't for you. From tunnel 10 it's a short hike (along the "shelf" the tracks are on) east to tunnel 8. (Tunnel 9 doesn't exist anymore). I made a map of the area west of Crescent, so check it out. I've marked this trail on it.

So what about everything west of tunnel 10 up to tunnel 18? Well, it's difficult to get to, but it can be done. From Rattlesnake Gulch, There is a trail that goes around the point at tunnel 10 that eventually brings you around the tunnel. Actually, it doesn't really drop you off at the west portal of tunnel 10 - it goes just below it, and I hiked up the hillside a short ways to get up to the trackside (see map). Anyway, you can get a nice shot of a westbound train coming through the signals at the other end of the tunnel. It's kind of neat. If you start at Crescent, you can hike all the way past tunnel 17 into South Draw. This area is pretty spectacular, as the tracks make a 180 degree curve around the canyon. This gives you a TON of photo opportunities, and creative railfans should be able to get several different views of the same train from one spot. The roadcut next to the old tunnel 17 site is a great place to set up - you can see between tunnels 14 and 15 as well as 15 and 16 across the valley. You also have the shot of the train coming out of tunnel 16 towards you, then rounding the curve behind you towards tunnel 17. It's almost an hour's hike from Gross Dam Road to get here, but it's worth it if you want great photos that the average railfan won't have.

Crescent

Crescent is another really cool place to do some neat photography. To get there, you'll need to make a sharp, almost 180 degree right turn off CO-72 onto the Gross Dam Road at a place called Crescent Village (see map). This is a dirt road, and you will encounter it after passing through the town of Coal Creek. It is marked with a sign, so keep an eye out for it. You'll wind around on this dirt road for a couple of miles, eventually descending in elevation into South Boulder Canyon. It eventually crosses Crescent siding. There's a turnout on the north side of the tracks where you can park. On any given weekend there's usually some other railfans there, so it's not uncommon to see other cars there. You can walk west along the tracks and find the spot where you can get the Continental Divide in the background of your photos. If you walk quite a ways down the tracks to the west end of the siding you can set up in the mornings to get a nice shot of the train with Gross Dam in the background (like my photo of Amtrak 6).

Going east leads you to the east end of the siding, where you can get a nice morning shot of eastbound trains like my BNSF 4743 photo. If you walk further east you'll eventually get to tunnel 18. There you can get nice afternoon photos of westbounders coming out of the tunnel (as in my photos of UP 7225). Shortly after tunnel 18 is tunnel 17, and there aren't really any good photo opportunities between the two. Tunnel 17 is really long and I'd recommend using the trail that goes over the top to get around it.

Everything between west Crescent and Pinecliffe

This is generally uncharted railfan territory, so to speak. This part of the line is pretty much inaccessible from any roads, and it is surrounded by private land. The terrain of this part of the line is pretty rough too - the only way I know of to get to any part of this section of track is to park at Pinecliffe or Crescent and hike along the tracks into the canyon. The furthest I've ever gone from Crescent is up to tunnel 23, and the furthest I've ever gone from Pinecliffe is tunnel 25. There's a nice photo opportunity between tunnels 22 and 23. There is a road cut between the two tunnels, and if you stand on it you can get some nice shots of tunnels 22 and 23 depending on where you set up. You can also try pointing the camera towards tunnel 22 and getting a train coming into the tunnel alongside the intermediate block signal on the east side of the tunnel.

On the other end, if you hike from Pinecliffe east down the canyon and climb up over the top of tunnel 27, you get a nice view down the canyon, which is where all my photos from between tunnels 26 and 27 come from. By the way, if the spot just east of tunnel 26 looks familiar it's because that's the site of the infamous September 1991 wreck where two crewmen lost their lives when their train hit a rockslide at this point and derailed into the canyon. This particular area has very rugged terrain, and you can get some impressive photos of trains snaking along the "shelf" that the tracks are on. Because this part of the canyon is so steep (and the tracks are on the south side), it is generally shaded-over during the winter, so summertime is a better season for sunny photos.

Pinecliffe

There are quite a few nice photo spots around Pinecliffe if you just hike around a little bit. You can park your car at the turnoff of CO-72 just before you cross the tracks (if you're heading west). Take a look at my map of the Pinecliffe area. I usually hike into the canyon east a ways, over the small bridge and through tunnel 29. There's a broad 180 degree curve there with all kinds of various photograhpy angles available. This area is where my photos of BNSF 4480, CNW 8803, plus lots of others come from. If you continue down the canyon, you'll notice it narrows very quickly and you'll end up at tunnel 27.

One very cool spot, in my opinion, is the cliff right above tunnel 29. You can easily get there by turning off CO-72 onto a little turnout on the right side a little before you get to the actual town of Pinecliffe (and the siding). It's on the crest of an upgrade curve as you're going west on CO-72. I've marked it as "overlook" on my map of this area. Pull off there, and walk to the north up over the rocks and you'll end up looking over the edge of a cliff into the canyon. This is where my shots of UP 7140, UP 9999, and others come from. If you look west you can get a nice view of Pinecliffe and the siding (where my photo of SP 186 comes from). Some pretty impressive views can be achieved at this spot, and it's really easy to get to. Just be careful on the rocks, and don't fall off the cliff.

The siding at Pinecliffe (Cliff) can offer some neat roster shots if you're lucky and a train is there.

If you go to the west end of Cliff siding you can find some neat photo opportunities there. There's a dirt road that goes off of CO-72 on the left across a bridge and across the tracks. You can park somewhere along there and get some shots of trains in this area. It's not the most spectacular scenery but if the sun angle is right you can get some decent photos.

Everything between Pinecliffe and Rollinsville

There's a lot of uncharted railfan territory here. West of Pinecliffe, the tracks curve to the south down a canyon, and CO-72 continues west in a different canyon. You can follow the tracks a ways along the previously mentioned dirt road, but it gets narrower and rougher as you go and eventually dead ends at someone's house. There is the possibility of getting a nice shot of a train cruising along the canyon with the creek in the foreground, which is about all this immediate area has to offer.

The area immediately around Tunnel 30 offers some real cool photo spots. I've got pictures online from this area, so check them out. Heading south on Highway 119, turn left at Rollinsville at the general store and follow the dirt road to the east until you get near the tracks. Park your car in a suitable spot, but don't cross the tracks at the grade crossing, as trains are routinely tied down here and you don't want to get stuck on the other side of the tracks. I've even made a handy-dandy map of the Rollinsville area. Hike down the tracks to the east for a while and you'll come into a very narrow, rocky portion of the canyon, with scenery unlike much of the rest of the tunnel district. The creek is very near to the tracks, as are the steep rock hillsides. It's worth a visit.

Rollinsville

To get to Rollinsville you'll need to make a left on CO-119 when CO-72 meets it. It's a "T" intersection, and CO-72 ends, so you only have the decision to go left or right. So head on down 119 until you get to Rollinsville. I usually turn off onto a dirt road on the right before crossing the bridge over the tracks. This is the road to East Portal, and is marked as such. In my opinion there isn't a whole lot worth photographing in Rollinsville itself, which is why I don't have many photos from here.

Tolland

If you keep on going down the dirt road to East Portal from Rollinsville, you'll notice that the road continues to get worse and worse as you go. I wouldn't recommend taking a family car down this road all the way to the Moffat Tunnel. It can be done, but it's hell on your suspension. That's why I have no shots of the 4 DRGW tunnel motors at East Portal since I didn't feel like trashing my Honda Accord on that road. There are some decent spots you can turn off onto along this road before you get to Tolland (and before you get to the real bad sections of this road) - this is where my photo of the four DRGW tunnel motors comes from. Anyway, you will eventually pass through the podunk little town of Tolland. This area is a big glacial valley, and some rather spectacular photo ops can be found if you kind of look around and do a little hiking. Driving up the dirt road towards Apex (which is marked with a sign and goes off to the left) "supposedly" offers some great shots of this valley, although I've never tried it.

East Portal (wow, you're finally there!)

If you continue on down the dirt road, and you can make it through all the pot holes, rocks, and what not, you'll get rewarded by ending up at the famous Moffat Tunnel, a virtual railfan mecca. There's all kinds of photo opportunities before you get to the tunnel itself. One really cool one is to go up the old Moffat Road (marked with a sign) which splits off to the right at a sharp angle about 1/4 mile before you get to East Portal. This road is really rough - a high-clearance vehicle is necessary, and 4-wheel drive is recommended. Even in my friend's Jeep it was a pretty rough drive. Anyway, you gain elevation real quick, and you can get some spectacular views looking west of the tunnel as well as east down the valley. I have a couple of such photos and I'll eventually try to get them posted.

The tunnel itself is pretty photogenic - if you get there in the morning you can get some nice photos of trains entering and exiting the tunnel. In the afternoon the sun begins to not favor this shot, although oftentimes clouds cover the sky in the afternoons so this doesn't matter much (as in my photo of SP 319).

This brings up a good point - don't forget weather! In the summertime this area is clouded over by about 1:00pm, with wandering thunderstorms appearing all afternoon after that. So bear this in mind for your photography, and try not to get hit by lightning. In the winter this area can have seemingly-arctic conditions, with extremely high winds (high wind chills!) and of course lots of ice and snow. So bear this in mind as well if you're going to go up there in the winter. Trust me, the weather can be nice in Denver, and can deteriorate quite a bit once you get up to this area! Everytime I try to take the Honda up to East Portal in snow, I get stuck. So all-wheel drive (or 4 wheel drive) is highly recommended if you are going up there in winter.

Conclusion

Well, I've written a lot more than I wanted to, but hopefully this will help out all you railfans out there who are looking for some great Rocky Mountain railroading photos. Just remember to use common sense, and respect the railroad and the terrain, and you'll be okay.

See ya trackside,

- MATT

Copyright 2001

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