Colorado's lingering and robust snowpack will prevent Rocky Mountain National Park from opening its famed Trail Ridge Road by its annual goal of the busy Memorial Day weekend.
Crews will continue plowing away at the road that reaches more than 12,000 feet, but their efforts have been hindered by persistent snow that continued to dump on the park last week and this week. It is not known when the park's main road that connects the east side of the park to the west side will be open, according to a park news release Wednesday.
Last week, several avalanches involved nine park visitors in the Bear Lake area. The Bear Lake Trailhead, located at 9,475 feet, still has 35 inches of snow. No one was seriously hurt. However, the Bear Lake Road as well as the Wild Basin Road to the summer trailhead are open. The road near the Twin Sisters Trailhead is not yet open.
Park officials released images of the Alpine Visitor Center, at 11,796 feet, where the buildings were nearly completely covered in snow.
Snowbanks of up to 20 feet are common when crews start to reconnect the 48-mile road. Presently, their are drifts of 3 to 9 feet across the road.
Crews from the east and west sides of the park began their quest to meet at the Alpine Visitor Center in mid-April. But above-average of snowpack this year and recent storms have complicated that mission.
Park spokesperson Kyle Patterson said crews work 10-hour shifts with about seven hours of active plowing, since it takes time to drive up and back from where plows leave off each day.
Last year, it opened May 24, which was week earlier than in 2017.
Trail Ridge Road, which was completed in 1932, had as its earliest opening on May 7, 2002, and its latest on June 26, 1943.
Despite the snow, at lower elevation, the three reservation campgrounds in the park —Moraine Park, Aspenglen and Glacier Basin on the east side — are full for the weekend.
Timber Creek Campground on the west side of the park is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
For further roads information, contact the park's information office at (970) 586-1206 or the Trail Ridge Road status recorded phone line at (970) 586-1222. Visit the park's website at https://www.nps.gov/romo.
Reader Comments
to our Newsletter