US 36 (CO)

U.S. Route 36
Denver-Boulder Turnpike
Map of northeastern Colorado with US 36 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by CDOT
Length:	232.406 mi (374.021 km) SH 36: 24.60 miles (39.59 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 34 near Estes Park
	US 287 in Broomfield US 287 in Westminster I-25 / US 87 / I-270 in Welby I-76 in Welby US 6 / US 85 in Commerce City I-70 / I-270 in Denver I-225 in Denver US 40 / I-70 Bus. / US 287 in Aurora US 40 / I-70 / US 287 near Byers US 385 near Idalia
East end:	US-36 at Kansas state line
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Replaced Colorado State Highways Interstate U.S. State Scenic ← SH 35 SH 39 →

U.S. Route 36 is a major east–west route in the U.S. state of Colorado, extending from Rocky Mountain National Park to the Kansas state line.

U.S. Highway 36 begins at Deer Ridge Junction in Rocky Mountain National Park, where it intersects U.S. Highway 34 (Trail Ridge Road) on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It exits the park at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and enters the town of Estes Park, where it is briefly overlapped with Business US 34 until it meets (but does not cross) the main US 34 again at an intersection shaped like the letter K. On its way out of Estes Park it intersects SH 7 at South St. Vrain Avenue, for the first of three times.

It then descends southeast through North St. Vrain Canyon to the town of Lyons, which it enters on Main Street. At 5th Avenue in Lyons, it intersects SH 7 again, beginning an overlap to Boulder which is signed only as US 36. At 5th Avenue and Main Street in Lyons, it divides into a pair of one-way streets with the eastbound direction traveling one block south on 5th Avenue and turning east onto Broadway Street, and the westbound direction using Main Street. The two directions reunite in two blocks and leave Lyons southeastward as four-lane Ute Highway. Just outside Lyons, US 36 turns south at a signalized intersection onto two-lane North Foothills Highway, while SH 66 continues east to Longmont. From Lyons to Boulder, US 36 pretty much traces the edge of the foothills.