Spring Creek Pass facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Spring Creek Pass
Looking north across the pass.
Elevation	10,889 ft (3,319 m)
Traversed by	SH 149
Location	Hinsdale County, Colorado, U.S.
Range	San Juan Mountains
Coordinates	37°56′27″N 107°09′33″W
Topo map	USGS Slumgullion Pass

Spring Creek Pass, elevation 10,889 ft (3,319 m), is a mountain pass on the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. The pass is traversed by State Highway 149 and the Colorado Trail. Somewhat unusually for a pass on the Continental Divide, it is not the highest point on the highway in the vicinity; heading north from the pass, the road climbs over the considerably higher Slumgullion Summit before descending toward Lake City.

Water Diversion

Around 1910, the Tabor Ditch was constructed to divert water from tributaries of Cebolla Creek in the Gunnison River basin over the continental divide at Spring Creek Pass into Big Spring Creek in the Rio Grande basin. This 0.5 mile (0.8 km) ditch was originally constructed to divert water for irrigation, but it is now owned by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The ditch can carry approximately 30 cubic feet per second (0.85 m³/s), and in an average year, it diverts about 1400 acre-feet (1.7 million m³).