page_title: U.S. Route 85 in Colorado
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 85 in Colorado / Route description
caption_attribution_description: English: Entering the town of Gilcrest, Colorado from the south on U.S. Route 85.
context_page_description: U.S. Route 85 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that travels from the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, north to the Canadian border in Fortuna, North Dakota. In the U.S. state of Colorado, US 85 begins at the New Mexico state line south of Starkville and ends at the Wyoming state line south of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
context_section_description: US 85 enters Colorado from New Mexico concurrent with Interstate 25 (I-25) but is not signed. US 85 leaves I-25 at exit 128 and follows Santa Fe Avenue through Fountain before turning west briefly onto Lake Avenue, then turning north following Nevada Avenue through Colorado Springs before rejoining I-25 at exit 148. Approaching the south side of Denver, US 85 again leaves I-25 at exit 184. From there it heads west and north as a two-lane rural highway. It becomes an expressway near Chatfield Lake and the southern Denver suburbs of Littleton and Englewood, where it is commonly known as Santa Fe Drive. It continues north through Denver for a few miles before once again joining with I-25 at mile marker 207. There it runs concurrently with US 87 as well as I-25 and heads north through downtown Denver. At exit 214, US 85 turns east and runs concurrently with I-70 and US 6 for about a mile where it exits with US 6 and heads northeast through Commerce City. In just a few miles the US 6/US 85 concurrency merges with I-76 at mile marker 9. They travel concurrently for three miles (4.8 km) until exit 12 when US 85 becomes an expressway and continues north out of the Denver area through Brighton.
   From there it parallels I-25 for about 75 miles (121 km) passing through Fort Lupton, Platteville, Evans, Greeley, and Eaton before crossing into Wyoming.
caption: US 85 looking north entering Gilcrest
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