The Denver & Salt Lake Railroad's grade makes a tight horseshoe around Yankee Doodle Lake on the climb for Rollins Pass. The tailings pile in the lake is from a partial tunnel dug by the Colorado, Utah & Pacific narrow gauge line. Two tunnels were to be dug to reach into Middle Park. The second tunnel was started near Kings Lake. The CU&P was David Moffat's first attempt to build a railroad west of Denver (1879-1880). The Burlington Railroad later bought Moffats surveys and construction for a transcontinental expansion. If the Divide tunnels would have been used as a standard gauge crossing is unknown. Many sections of the Moffat west of Granby were graded by the Burlington (1886-1889). The great Panic of 1893 ended Burlington's dream of a railroad to the Pacific. Also of note; is the road going over the mountain behind the lake. This was the original stage coach road over Rollin's Pass pre-dating all railroad construction (1862).
