The pass is located on the continental divide, at the crest of the Front Range along the border between Park (south) and Summit counties.

The road over the pass goes north from the town of Como in the northern South Park northeast of Fairplay, crossing the path northward to Breckenridge.

The rail line over the pass was a major engineering feat, primarily because of the winter snows at high altitude.

After World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers reconstructed the route for automobile traffic.

The 0.8 mile (1.3 km) ditch has a capacity of 16 cubic feet per second (0.45m3/s), and in an average year, it transports about 140 acre-feet (170,000m3) of water.