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Trail Ridge Road At Rocky Mountain National Park Closed For Winter

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By Compiled From N... - October 25th, 2022
Trail Ridge Road across the top of Rocky Mountain National Park has closed for winter/NPS file

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park has closed for winter. The road is somewhere under the snow in this undated photo/NPS file

Winter has claimed Trail Ridge Road across the roof of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado for the rest of the winter.

The white-knuckle-drive officially closed for winter on Monday. Many popular driving destinations for this time of year, including Bear Lake Road, Moraine Park, Horseshoe Park and the section of Trail Ridge Road along the Kawuneeche Valley, are all open.   

Trail Ridge Road was not designed to be an all-season road, with 11 miles above 11,500 feet, few guard rails, and no shoulders. Winter conditions of drifting snow, high winds and below-freezing temperatures occur above 10,000 feet. Trail Ridge Road is currently closed at Many Parks Curve on the east side and Colorado River Trailhead on the west side. Closure points on the road may fluctuate this fall, however the road is closed to through travel for the season, the park announced Monday evening.

Trail Ridge Road normally opens the last week in May, weather permitting. This year Trail Ridge Road opened on May 27. 

Old Fall River Road closed for the season to vehicles on October 3. Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road will remain open to bicycles and leashed pets through November 30. Leashed pets and bicycles are only allowed on the road, not on side trails. On December 1, both of these roads will revert to "winter trail status" which means that bicycles and leashed pets are no longer permitted beyond the closed gates but pedestrians, snowshoers, and skiers are.    

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