The aeolian deposition of dust and other light absorbing impurities (LAI) to snow in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) decreases snow surface albedo and enhances absorption of solar radiation, leading to accelerated snowmelt and the snow-albedo feedback. Until now, there has been a lack of remote sensing retrievals able to capture the spatial and temporal variability of this forcing. Though measurements derived from complete energy balance towers are better suited for quantifying surface radiative forcing from LAI on snow, they are impractical in most mountain terrain and do not give spatially comprehensive measurements. Here we present the validation and twelve-year record of surface radiative forcing in the UCRB using the MODIS Dust Radiative Forcing in Snow (MODDRFS) model. MODDRFS retrieves surface radiative forcing by LAI in snow cover from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance data. We have validated MODDRFS with a 7-year record of in situ radiation measurements from two complete energy balance towers in the Senator Beck Basin Study Area, San Juan Mountains, Colorado. We demonstrate the capacity of MODDRFS to capture distinct spatiotemporal patterns of surface forcing with data for the UCRB between years 2000 and 2011. Over the twelve-year period of analysis, MODDRFS exhibits a distinct latitudinal gradient of surface forcing to be expected given the provenance of episodic springtime dust events proximal to the UCRB.