Trail Ridge Road still closed but may reopen

Lance Maggart

**Trail Ridge Road to close temporarily due to expected weather.**
*Byron Hetzler | Sky-Hi News*

Trail Ridge Road, U.S. Highway 34, traveling through Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park to Grand Lake is currently closed.

The road closed Sunday evening Oct. 26 at 5:30 p.m. due to inclement weather including blowing snow, very low temperatures and low visibility.

Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) Public Information Officer Kyle Patterson said, “We are cautiously optimistic that this is not the season ender. The upcoming forecast looks pretty good.”

Patterson said the National Park Service (NPS) hopes to reopen the road in the coming days, if only briefly, before it closes down for the winter. The NPS will issue a statement when the decision has been made to shut the road down for the winter.

The road is currently closed at Many Parks Curve on the east side of the divide, approximately eight miles from the Estes Park entrance to RMNP; and at the Colorado River Trail Head on the west side, approximately 10 miles from the Grand Lake entrance.

Trail Ridge Road officially closed for the winter last year on Oct. 22, 2013 with the road effectively being shut down beginning Oct. 1 because of the government shutdown.

For current road conditions you can call the NPS Trail Ridge Road status line at 1-970-586-1222.

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