SHELLY ANDERSON

Loveland Pass Engagement Session | Lindsay and Aaron

Engagements

August 3, 2021

One of the most iconic locations in Colorado to take engagement photos might just be Loveland Pass. Fun fact about Loveland Pass- it is actually where the Continental Divide is! (That means, that if the rainfall flows on one side of the mountain, it will make its way west to the Pacific Ocean, and if it flows on the other side of the mountain, it will flow east to the Atlantic Ocean! COOL.)

This Loveland Pass engagement session was for my dear friends, and we had a LOT of rain-dodging for this one! The weather report was typical for summer in the Colorado mountains– rain in the afternoon! We stalked the weather report and I am now an expert at reading weather radar. Originally, we were going to do their engagement photos at Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. But the weather determined that was not going to work. We found a ‘hole’ in the radar that was going to be hovering over Loveland Pass for about an hour and a half that evening. So that was our new spot!! We got SO lucky will some beautiful fog that started to roll in as we made our way up the mountain. Before leaving tree line, we pulled off on the side of the road to walk along a beautiful stream that was bursting with wildflowers. We then continued to the top (towards the main parking area), and found a nice trail that had some amazing views.

JUMP AHEAD TO:

Location of Loveland Pass

Loveland Pass is just over an hour drive from downtown Denver, (depending on traffic of course), heading west on I70. It *almost* reaches 12k feet at the road’s summit. But if you were feeling up to it, you could catch a trailhead at the main parking lot at the top and hike up to 13.4k feet to the summit of Mount Sniktau! Another reason I love Loveland Pass is because it is fairly central to a lot of the main mountain ski towns in Colorado like Vail, Copper, and Breckenridge! You would take the exit for Loveland Pass off of I70 and just head up. Once you reach the summmit, you can continue down the mountain and you will hit Arapahoe Basin, and then eventually into Dillon.

Weather at Loveland Pass

The weather at Loveland Pass really depends on the season. You can expect the road and mountain to be covered in snow for about half (if not more) of the year. Usually this is from November to mid-June. During the summer months, expect some afternoon showers around 3pm! Also remember that you’ll be at a much higher elevation at the summit, so it can get quite chilly.

Permits to shoot at Loveland Pass

A permit to photograph an engagement session at Loveland Pass is not required. (Although, if you wanted to elope there, there will be a permit process). While this makes it easy to do a Loveland Pass engagement session, please know that you must still follow Leave No Trace rules.

Things to know before booking a Loveland Pass engagement session

Traffic.

Never trust that the roads to Loveland Pass will be open or that they will have no traffic! When planning for an engagement session at Loveland Pass, always double check the traffic on I70 as well as the road conditions to the summit.

Time of day.

The timing of the day at which you choose to do your engagement session can be crucial. Since this is a popular destination for tourists to get their obligatory “Continental Divide photo op”, parking can be crowded! Mornings will have a lot of hikers trying to summit the nearby peaks, and mid day will have a lot of car traffic parking for scenic views.

Sunrise vs Sunset at Loveland Pass

Personally, I’m such a fan of sunrise at Loveland Pass. If you can, try to get to the summit an half an hour before sunrise. From there, you can start heading south on to the trail head up to Mount Sniktau. At the top there, you will get epic sunrise views! This view is great because there will be no roads or crowds in your photos. Sunrise is also a great way to beat the crowds! There should also be no traffic on I70, making it a quick trip. Sunset can also be beautiful. Usually there will be more people at the top during sunset, and you risk getting more variable weather. Both are beautiful though!