Local News

Semi-truck driver dies after going off side of Colorado mountain

By Austen Erblat

November 3, 2025 / 3:42 PM MST / CBS Colorado

Truck driver dies after going off side of Wolf Creek Pass

A 23-year-old New York man was killed when the semi-truck he was driving went off the side of Wolf Creek Pass on Monday, according to Colorado State Patrol.

The crash happened around 8:30 a.m. on U.S. Highway 160 in Mineral County, a CSP spokesman said. The driver, who hasn't yet been identified, was hauling canned beverages in a 2020 Freightliner when he lost control of the truck. Witnesses told investigators they saw it moving at a high rate of speed with black smoke coming from its brakes.

Near milepost 161, about 17 miles north of Pagosa Springs, he crashed through the guardrail and careened down a steep embankment.

A semi-truck drove off the side of a steep embankment on U.S. Highway 160 north of Pagosa Springs on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. Colorado State Patrol

The driver was ejected from the cab and his body was found later. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators went on to say that the driver failed to get onto the runaway truck ramp about a mile and a half up the highway from where he crashed.

Austen Erblat

Austen Erblat is a digital producer and assignment editor at CBS News Colorado and is Covering Colorado First. Originally from South Florida, he's been working as a journalist in Denver since 2022.