Grand County Living
Every Fraser Valley property sits at the end of one mountain pass and one rail tunnel. How you get here in January belongs in the decision to buy here.
Near Winter Park, Colorado. Photo: Mercedes Valero / Unsplash
The drive from Denver to Winter Park is about 75 miles, and every one of them that matters in winter is the last stretch: off I-70 at Empire, up US-40 through the switchbacks, over Berthoud Pass at roughly 11,300 feet, and down into the Fraser Valley. On a bluebird Saturday it is one of the most beautiful drives in Colorado. On a Friday night in a February storm, it is the reason some buyers choose one neighborhood over another.
Buyers who are new to the mountains tend to evaluate a property the way they would in the city: the kitchen, the view, the square footage. Buyers who have owned here a few winters add a second list. How far is the driveway from a plowed road? How steep is it? Is there a garage? How close is the train? None of it shows up in the listing photos, and all of it shapes how often you actually use the place.
One pass, maintained all winter
Berthoud Pass is a working winter highway, not a seasonal road. CDOT plows roughly 23,000 lane miles across the state and runs an avalanche program that monitors and controls 278 of the 522 known avalanche paths above Colorado highways, the slide paths above Berthoud Pass among them. Maintenance does not stop in the off-season, either. In late September, CDOT ran rock-scaling traffic holds on US-40 between mile points 236 and 240, with 20-minute stops on weekdays, to clear loose rock ahead of winter.
What changes in winter is the rulebook. Colorado's traction law requires either four-wheel or all-wheel drive with tires rated for mud and snow, winter tires, or all-weather tires with at least 3/16 inch of tread, or chains or an approved traction device. By statute, the requirement to carry that equipment applies on I-70 between Dotsero and Morrison from September 1 through May 31 every year. CDOT is also clear that it "can implement traction and chain laws on any state highway" when conditions warrant, and that includes US-40 over Berthoud Pass. According to CDOT, getting caught out of compliance carries a $100 fine and a $33 surcharge, and $500 plus a $157 surcharge if your vehicle ends up blocking a lane.
For a buyer, the practical takeaway is simple. The car you drive up matters as much as the house you drive to, and a property with a short, flat, plowed approach is worth more in daily life than one at the top of a steep private drive, whatever the view.
The train that skips the pass
The other way in goes under the Continental Divide instead of over it. The Moffat Tunnel, finished in 1928 and owned by the State of Colorado, runs 6.2 miles beneath the divide, and it carries the Winter Park Express. Amtrak has confirmed the ski train "will be back for the 2026 - 2027 season," running between Denver Union Station and Winter Park Resort with an additional stop at Fraser-Winter Park. Winter Park Resort says tickets will go on sale this fall, with fares starting at $9.
Last season gives a sense of the schedule. The 2025-26 train ran holiday weekends in late December and early January, then Thursday through Sunday from January 8 to March 29, 2026, for 57 round trips. It left Denver at 7:00 a.m. and arrived at the base of the resort at 9:11 a.m.
The Winter Park Express shows that when we offer passenger rail, Coloradans ride.
-- Gov. Jared Polis, Amtrak announcement, November 2025
Longer term, CDOT's Mountain Rail program aims to turn the ski train into daily, year-round service on the same line through Winter Park, Fraser and Granby. CDOT's own FAQ still says expanded service to Winter Park could begin "as early as late 2026." Treat that as a target rather than a timetable, but it is worth knowing which properties sit within walking or shuttle distance of the Fraser depot and the resort station.
Reading a property through the windshield
Here is how I walk a buyer through access before we write an offer.
Where the snow goes. In the Town of Winter Park, there is no overnight on-street parking from November 1 to May 1 except in designated areas, plows run from 4 a.m. to midnight, and homeowners are responsible for clearing the berm the plow leaves across the driveway. The town publishes a priority list: arterials like Vasquez Road and Van Anderson Drive first, residential cul-de-sacs last. Fraser and Grand County have their own policies, and private roads are plowed by whoever the HOA or road association hires.
How many cars fit off the street. Guests who cannot park on the street overnight need somewhere to go. A two-car driveway and a garage are winter amenities, not just conveniences.
Distance from the pass, and from the train. A Winter Park or Fraser property keeps the drive from Denver short and the train close. Tabernash and Granby add a few more miles of valley driving, and more quiet, but sit on the same rail line that Mountain Rail would serve.
Access is part of the address
A great mountain home is one you actually reach, on the weekends you planned, without white-knuckling the last mile. That is not a reason to avoid any one neighborhood. It is a reason to look at every property in November the way you will live in it in January.
If you are weighing Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash or Granby this winter, I am glad to drive the approaches with you before you decide.
Gregory Krol
Director of Sales and Mountain Property Specialist
The Real Estate Company -- Mountain Division, Winter Park, Colorado
trecwp.com · 970-426-5500
Sources
C.R.S. 42-4-106, traction equipment requirement; CDOT, traction and chain law; CDOT, winter driving FAQ; CDOT, avalanche program; CDOT, snow removal; CDOT, US 40 Berthoud Pass traffic holds, September 2026; Amtrak, Winter Park Express; Amtrak, 2025-26 Winter Park Express announcement; Winter Park Resort, getting here; CDOT, Mountain Rail FAQ; CDOT, Mountain Rail status report; Town of Winter Park, snow removal.
This post reflects publicly available information as of October 2026. Road conditions, traction law activations and train schedules change; check COtrip.org and Amtrak before you travel.
