Deer Creek Canyon Road: Chatfield to Evergreen
A foothills canyon road between Chatfield Reservoir and Evergreen, about 9.5 miles of sweeping and sharp turns following the creek up into the mountains. A long-standing local favorite for motorcyclists and sports car drivers.
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Pavement is generally decent but carries loose gravel in spots; weekends bring meaningfully heavier traffic than weekdays. Check current access · Reviewed 2026-09-22
Planning the drive
Deer Creek Canyon runs 34 counted bends over 9.6 miles at a 7.0% maximum grade, following the creek up out of the Chatfield Reservoir area into the foothills — sweeping and sharp turns rather than sustained switchbacks, with only 3 full switchbacks in the whole run. It's been a long-standing local favorite for motorcyclists and sports car drivers specifically because it delivers real curves within a short drive of Denver. The Gazette: Cycling Colorado — Deer Creek Canyon
Pavement is generally decent but carries loose gravel in spots, and weekends bring meaningfully heavier traffic — both other drivers and cyclists — than weekdays. The road ends near Evergreen, which makes a natural stop before heading back.
Roads to connect
Driving notes updated .
Road shape
- Length
- 9.6 mi
- Bends
- 34
- Switchbacks
- 3
- Bends per mile
- 3.5
- Turning per mile
- 385°
- Curviest rank
- 81of 152
Measured from the OpenStreetMap centreline at a 20 m sampling step — road shape only, not a safety or speed judgement. How bends are counted.
Elevation
- Total climb
- 1,959ft
- Climb per mile
- 204ft
- Highest point
- 7,259ft
- Steepest grade
- 7%
Sampled every 100 m from USGS 10 m elevation data, a public-domain federal dataset. Total climb counts vertical change in both directions, so it does not depend on which way you drive. How elevation is measured.
Speed limits
Varies
Unverified
Check posted signs along the road.
No reliable posted limit was found for this selected section. Follow current signs.
Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.
Sources
Difficulty 2/3 (Winding) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “Medium speed” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:
- The Gazette: Cycling Colorado — Deer Creek Canyon
- Motorcycle Roads: Deer Creek Canyon
- OpenStreetMap road data (18 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-17. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.
Roads nearby
Distances are approximate straight lines between road centers, not driving distances or direct connections.