Hoosier Pass (Continental Divide)
{{Short description|Mountain pass in Colorado, United States}}
{{Infobox mountain pass
| name = Hoosier Pass
| photo = HoosierPass.jpg
| photo_caption = View south from Hoosier Pass, towards Alma
| elevation_ft = 11542
| elevation_ref = {{cite gnis|id= 179963 |name=Hoosier Pass|accessdate=2011-02-02}}
| traversed = {{Jct|state=CO|SH|9}}
| location = Park / Summit counties, Colorado, U.S.
| range = Mosquito Range
| coordinates = {{coord|39|21|42|N|106|03|45|W|display=inline,title|type:pass_region:US}}
| topo = USGS Alma
}}
Hoosier Pass (elevation {{convert|11542|ft|m|abbr=on}}) is a high mountain pass in central Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States. The name derives from the Hoosier Gulch, which was worked by men from Indiana, nicknamed the "Hoosier State".{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=John Frank|title=Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015051116740;view=1up;seq=33|publisher=The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co.|location=Denver, CO|page=27}}{{Citation |title=Memorial at the Hoosier Pass on the Continental Divide |date=1929 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hoosier_Pass_Memorial.jpg |access-date=2024-08-11 |publisher=United States Forest Service |quote=Named for Hoosier Gulch, discovered and worked as a placer camp by Indiana men 1860}}
File:Hoosier Pass Sign 2024.jpg Forest Service sign at the Hoosier Pass on the Continental Divide, August 10, 2024]]
File:Hoosier Pass Memorial.jpg
The pass is located on the Continental Divide at the northern end of the Mosquito Range, in a gap between Mount Lincoln (west) and Hoosier Ridge (east). It sits on the boundary between Park (south) and Summit (north) counties.
The pass provides a route between the headwaters of the Blue River (tributary of the Colorado River) to the north and the headwaters of the South Platte River in South Park to the south. It is traversed by State Highway 9 between the towns of Breckenridge (north) and Fairplay (south).
The highway over the pass provides an alternative route from Denver to the ski areas near Breckenridge and Keystone. It is generally open all year round, is traversable by all vehicles in good weather, but is occasionally closed during winter storms. The road over the pass has a smooth approach on the south side but has several switchbacks on the north side with a grade of 8%.
This pass is the highest point on the TransAmerica Trail, a transcontinental bicycle route that stretches from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon.
Water diversion
Hoosier Pass is the location of the oldest known transbasin diversion project in Colorado, a ditch diverting water from a tributary of the Blue River to the Middle Fork of the South Platte River. This water was used for placer mining above Alma.[http://water.state.co.us/DWRIPub/DWR%20Presentations/Water%20Development%20%20History%20and%20Administration%20%20presentation%20%20to%20the%20Irrigationists.pdf Water Development History], Colorado Division of Water Resources, Mar. 2012; accessed August 2015. By 1929, the 1.8 mile (2.9 km) East Hoosier Ditch and the 1.3 mile (2 km) West Hoosier Ditch were in operation, able to divert an aggregate 77 cubic feet per second (2.2 m3/s) of water across the continental divide.
The City of Colorado Springs obtained the water rights to these ditches and constructed the Hoosier Pass Tunnel to replace them as part of the Continental-Hoosier Diversion System. The 10 foot (3 m) diameter 1.5 mile (2.4 km) water tunnel was completed in 1951 and delivers up to 500 cubic feet per second (14.2m3/s) to Montgomery Reservoir about a mile southwest of the pass, from which the water is piped 70 miles (113 km) to Colorado Springs. Average annual diversions through the tunnel have been on the order of 9000 acre feet (11 million m3).John N. Winchester, [http://westernriversinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/USCID-Transmountain-Paper-.pdf A Historical View: Transmountain Development in Colorado] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807061159/http://westernriversinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/USCID-Transmountain-Paper-.pdf |date=2015-08-07 }}, 2000; retrieved July, 2015.
Another pass
There is another Hoosier Pass in Colorado (elevation {{convert|10313|ft|m|abbr=on}}) located in Teller County, near Cripple Creek.
Climate
Hoosier Pass has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc).
{{Weather box
|location = Hoosier Pass, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals: 11400ft (3475m)
|single line = Yes
|Jan high F = 26.5
|Feb high F = 28.8
|Mar high F = 36.4
|Apr high F = 42.0
|May high F = 50.4
|Jun high F = 60.7
|Jul high F = 65.7
|Aug high F = 62.8
|Sep high F = 57.0
|Oct high F = 45.3
|Nov high F = 33.9
|Dec high F = 26.1
|year high F =
|Jan mean F = 17.0
|Feb mean F = 18.5
|Mar mean F = 25.0
|Apr mean F = 30.4
|May mean F = 39.1
|Jun mean F = 48.5
|Jul mean F = 53.8
|Aug mean F = 51.7
|Sep mean F = 45.8
|Oct mean F = 35.0
|Nov mean F = 24.4
|Dec mean F = 17.0
|year mean F =
|Jan low F = 7.5
|Feb low F = 8.1
|Mar low F = 13.4
|Apr low F = 18.7
|May low F = 27.8
|Jun low F = 36.2
|Jul low F = 41.8
|Aug low F = 40.6
|Sep low F = 34.5
|Oct low F = 24.8
|Nov low F = 14.9
|Dec low F = 7.9
|year low F =
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 2.32
|Feb precipitation inch = 2.58
|Mar precipitation inch = 3.08
|Apr precipitation inch = 3.97
|May precipitation inch = 2.85
|Jun precipitation inch = 1.18
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.38
|Aug precipitation inch = 2.40
|Sep precipitation inch = 1.78
|Oct precipitation inch = 2.32
|Nov precipitation inch = 2.41
|Dec precipitation inch = 2.28
|year precipitation inch =
{{cite web
|url = https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = xmACIS2
|access-date = October 10, 2023
}}
|source 2 = NOAA (Precipitation)
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USS0006K01S&format=pdf
|title= Hoosier Pass, Colorado 1991-2020 Monthly Normals
|access-date = October 10, 2023
}}
}}