Colorado State Highway 72

State Highway 72
Map of north central Colorado with SH 72 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by CDOT
Length:	51.01 mi (82.09 km)
Major junctions
South end:	I-70 in Wheat Ridge
	SH 93 in rural Jefferson County SH 119 at Nederland
North end:	SH 7 east of Allenspark
Location
Counties:	Jefferson, Boulder, Gilpin
Highway system
Colorado State Highways Interstate U.S. State Scenic ← SH 71 SH 74 →

State Highway 72 (SH 72) is a 51-mile-long (82 km) state highway passing through the foothills and the eastern edge of the Front Range.

The route is a mainly rural, scenic, mountainous highway; not having many junctions. It begins at I-70 (Exit 266) in Wheat Ridge as Ward Road. It continues north through the western parts of Arvada where it becomes Coal Creek Canyon Rd. The highway continues west-north-west through Coal Creek Canyon and aptly named Wondervu, across the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Pinecliffe, eventually joining the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway northbound. For three miles along the Byway it coincides with SH 119. The two routes diverge at Nederland. From Nederland, SH 72 continues north along the Byway past Ward to its terminus with SH 7 east of Allenspark.

The route was established in the 1920s, when it began at 46th Avenue in Denver and headed northwest to Nederland. The section of the present-day SH 72 north of Nederland was designated as SH 160. By 1936, the southeastern terminus had been moved to SH 58, itself since relocated. The section from SH 93 east was paved by 1946, and the route was paved entirely by 1958. In 1968, SH 160 was deleted and SH 72 took the route from Nederland to Raymond.