Wolf Creek Pass Continental Divide Sign Archive

The Wolf Creek Pass archive contains historic photographs, slides, postcards, and other types of images that document the signs on this part of the Continental Divide. The items in the archive are owned and cared for by Coloradotopia. A handful of images on this page are digital-only, and those are are sourced from elsewhere.

The Coloradotopia Archives. The archives contain hundreds of photographs, slides, motion film reels, postcards, and small items focusing on Colorado’s mountain automobile history. Go to main archive page.

c. 1925-'35

This photo shows Sade, Harriet, and Mary Elizabeth Rhoads posing next to a sign at the top of Wolf Creek Pass.

1947

This set of Continental Divide signs was likely added sometime in the 1940s.

1952

This photo from 1952 was likely one of the last images captured of the Wolf Creek Pass signs on this sign of the road. A set of Continental Divide signs was added on the opposite side of the highway by the end of the year.

c. 1952-'54

This image comes from a photo negative that is held in the archives.

c. 1954-'64

This original photograph has been dated to sometime in the range of 1954-’64 using details that are seen in the image. See full discussion for more dating info on this and all other images.

1954

This photograph has a handwritten label of 1954 that has been used to date the image. A man and woman are resting against the historical marker that was added in 1929.

Postmarked 1959

This image was scanned from a Harold Sanborn postcard that was sent from Walsenburg, CO in 1959.

c. 1952-'63

These signs were added on top of Wolf Creek Pass sometime between 1952 and 1963. This image is scanned from a postcard created by Noble Post Cards.

Postmarked 1963

This plaque was originally added to the boulder on Wolf Creek Pass in 1929. The plaque was removed from the boulder in the early 1960s, but it returned shortly afterwards. The boulder and plaque are now gone.

Postmarked 1964

This postcard, postmarked in 1964 shows the new Continental Divide sign that was put into place by the US Forest Service. The boulder for the 1929 historical marker is attached here on the left, but the plaque is gone.

1965

This image has been scanned from one of the few Dynacolor slides that is held in the archives. This slide was ink-stamped with a date of 1965. The historical plaque has returned in this image.

1968

A springtime photo from the top of Wolf Creek Pass, featuring a woman and her son posing by the Continental Divide sign.

1983

This image has been scanned from a non-branded slide that was developed in 1983.

c. 2000s

This undated photograph is in digital format only. It has been provided by the Center for Land Use Interpretation and it shows the present day summit marker on the pass.

2021

The modern Continental Divide marker shown here is quite grand compared to its predecessors. The green summit sign still coexists just a few steps up the road.