New Mexico state line to Pueblo and
Denver Following the
Santa Fe Trail from
New Mexico, I-25 enters
Colorado while concurrent with
US 85 and
US 87. It is a typical four-lane Interstate Highway, and its entire route in Colorado lies close to the east side of the
Rocky Mountains. The route turns from north to west-northwest as I-25 serves
Wootton. After leaving Wootton, I-25 turns back up north and bypasses near the east side of the
Trinidad Lake State Park, home of the
Trinidad Lake.
Trinidad, a city near the Trinidad Lake, is the first major city that lies along I-25. For the next , I-25 continues north through the rural areas of Colorado until it reaches the small city of
Walsenburg, where
State Highway 25C (Interstate 25 Business, I-25 Bus.) junctions with
US 160. I-25 then continues in a north-northwest direction until it bypasses the
Orlando Reservoir, then turns north from there until it reaches
Colorado City. In Colorado City, I-25 interchanges with the east end of the
Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway (
SH 165) at exit 74. After leaving the city, I-25 follows in a north-northeast orientation until it reaches the
St. Charles Reservoir just before entering the city of
Pueblo, with the first exit within the southern city limits of Pueblo at exit 94. The
Arkansas River in Pueblo serves as a feeder to the
Lake Pueblo State Park, home of
Pueblo Lake, which is located to the west of the western city limits of Pueblo.
Pueblo to Denver After leaving
Pueblo, I-25 continues up north with the
Union Pacific Railroad line paralleling closely to the route on the right side after interchanging with Porter Draw at exit 106. By exit 119, the
Fountain Creek joins along and travels parallel with I-25, and continues all the way to the
Fountain Creek Regional Park in
Widefield. I-25 gradually turns from a general north direction to the north-northwest and serves the
census-designated place of
Buttes at exit 122. , as seen from I-25 near
Fort Carson. Note the communications antennas at the summit, which are radio antennas for stations broadcasting in Colorado Springs.As soon as
US 85 leaves I-25 at exit 128, I-25 enters the city limits of
Fountain. Basically, I-25 serves as the border between the western city limits of Fountain on the east side of I-25 and
Fort Carson on the west side. Exit 132 (
SH 16) serves the north side of the
Fountain Creek Regional Park as well as the entrance to
Fort Carson and connects to
SH 21 (Powers Boulevard), the eastern bypass for the
Colorado Springs metro area. By the time I-25 reaches exit 138, the route crosses into the city limits of
Colorado Springs, where the stack interchange with
US 24 at exit 139 serves the
Evergreen Cemetery and
Prospect Lake. I-25 turns west at exit 140, along with
Fountain Creek, where it interchanges with
US 85,
US 87, and
State Highway 25 Business (State Highway 25 Bus., I-25 Bus.). I-25, again, turns back north by exit 141. Swinging around the west side of downtown
Colorado Springs at exit 142, and to the north of the city lies the
Colorado College, and is served at exit 143 (Uintah Street). Continuing north and northeast, the highway intersects the north terminus of State Highway 25 Bus. and US 85. The Interstate leaves Colorado Springs between exits 153 and 156, where I-25 enters the
United States Air Force Academy, going through the east side of the institution. I-25 leaves
El Paso County and enters
Douglas County at
Monument Hill, elevation , north of
Monument. I-25 then continues north through more rural and hilly areas east of the
Rocky Mountains until reaching
Castle Rock at exit 181. I-25 continues through rural and hilly portions of Douglas County until intersecting
E-470, the partial beltway of
Denver serving the
Centennial Airport and the
Denver International Airport. After entering
Arapahoe County, I-25 cuts through the Denver Technological Center (DTC) between Dry Creek Road and Belleview Avenue (exits 196 and 199). I-25 enters
Denver at the
I-225 interchange, a spur that detours motorists to
I-70 through
Aurora, at exit 200. I-25 turns in a westerly direction between Evans Avenue (exit 203) and Colorado Boulevard (exit 204).
University of Denver lies just to the south of the Interstate at exit 205. It then turns back north after exit 207. I-25 curves around the west side of downtown
Denver, where it can be accessed by
I-70 Bus. at exit 210. I-25 then interchanges with
I-70 at exit 214 right before leaving the
City and County of Denver and enters
Adams County.
Denver to Wyoming state line As I-25 leaves Denver, the route continues up north through unincorporated areas of
Adams County and interchanges with
I-76,
I-270, and the
Denver-Boulder Turnpike (
US 36). Due to the complexity of this triangle-shaped interchange, it was known to be one of many
malfunction junctions throughout the
United States. Beyond that interchange, the Interstate enters the northern suburbs of the Denver metro area, such as
Thornton and
Northglenn, and at exit 220, I-25 slips its way through a narrow path between the
Badding Reservoir (west side) and the
Croke Lake (east side). At exit 228, I-25 interchanges with the northern terminuses of
E-470 and
Northwest Parkway at a
stack interchange, with the
Larkridge Shopping Center just to the north, served by 160th Avenue (
SH 7). As I-25 continues north, it moves through rolling farm and grasslands with the Front Range and high mountains clearly visible to the west while passing through a medley of lakes and reservoirs. It stays generally flat with few moderate climbs in elevation, while also serving smaller cities like
Dacono and
Firestone to the east and
Longmont to the west. This stretch of I-25 in northern Colorado also has large amounts of truck traffic between SH 7 and
Wyoming. After some time in the rural farmlands, the Interstate enters the
Fort Collins–Loveland metro area at exit 255, serving Loveland and
Greeley at exits 255 and 257, Windsor at exit 262, and continuing north to the
Fort Collins city limits south of Harmony Road. The highway runs on the eastern side of Fort Collins, serving
Colorado State University at exits 268 and 269 (which is also the most direct route to downtown). After exit 271, I-25 leaves Fort Collins and rolls into more rural grasslands past
Wellington. Exits also become few and far between from here to Wyoming as well after gradually turning north-easterly toward the state line. ==History==