Colorado Trail Status, Closures, repairs, discussion.

Yep, lots of pinstriping for sure. I loved it though. There are some steep, committing sections on that trail too. The sign was missing at the top of the route, I thought it might have been closed?

My general impression is that this trail doesn't "feel" open due to the erosion. There were several sustained sections when traversing above cliffs where the road had eroded up to the edge of the worn tracks, leaving only a couple inches to buffer. I got out to check a couple times to make sure I was safe (ish), and chose to continue. My impression is that if the rain continues, this trail may become impassible. Anyway, for those interested in driving it, make sure you are able to reverse on some fairly tight and technical terrain.

 

I'll email them.

 

7/6/19 - Coney Flats gate is now open. The Coney Flats road is clear of snow and downed trees all the way to the Coney Flats Wilderness trail head. Also, the Cutoff down to the Middle St. Vrain is clear of snow and downed trees. Stay on the 4WD road. Fencing has been mended and added to maintain route control.
7/6/19 - The Middle St. Vrain gate is now open. The Middle St. Vrain is clear of snow and downed trees all the way to the end. Stay on the 4WD road. Fencing has been mended and added to maintain route control.

http://bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm

 

Engineer Pass is now open between Silverton and Lake City

 

nice! i saw they cleared from lake city to the summit.. didn't see they got the other side cleared.. animas forks is accessible from silverton as well as over california pass too... san juans are slowly openning! still lots of snow i'm sure, but at least you can travel some backcountry

 

I saw the same, Hinsdale has cleared to the top of Engineer but I didn't see anything about the San Juan side. I'm heading down there next week. A friend has a cabin on Cinnamon so we're hoping to run to American Basin (that's as far as possible atm), Wager Gulch to Carson and maybe head over Engineer to Silverton if it's fully open.

 

Just saw on FB, Hinsdale county reiterated that Engineer is open to the top from Lake City but still not able to go all the way to Silverton.

 

Yep, they are still working on some avalanche stuff.


Hope they get it open next week

 

Engineer has been open for a couple of days, but from Animas Forks you go over Hurricane to get into Silverton, Animas to Eureka is still closed. Also, Corkscrew is now open Silverton to Ouray.

 

wouldn't surprise me.. seems every year the edge gets closer and closer on some of those spots

 

UPDATE: Bridal Veil Road has been reopened. Crews will work again tomorrow to smooth up the road.

Bridal Veil Road is closed. It was washed out by Ingram Creek.
Crews are working today to reopen the road.
Hikers are being warned that the creek is difficult to cross.

 

very possible. the falls is a popular sight to drive up to, so it makes sense that they would address that issue first...

seeing that damage down low make you wonder what has happened above as well...

that was off the san miguel county road and bridge facebook page

 

Update on Clohesy Lake. Some clearing has been happening on the first avalanche field that is 1.1 miles up the trail. The first 100 ish yards have been cleared. There is still 50+ yards of debris left.


Second avalanche 2.1 miles up, not as big but no clearing has taken place yet.


The third avalanche hit at the end of the trail right up to the gate.


I would like to thank whoever has been trying to open the trail. There is still a lot of snow packed under all the debris.

It's totally worth it to make it up there though.

 

Just in case it helps anyone... I was camping and hiking in Crested Butte this weekend, and you cannot reach Schofield Pass going up 317 from Gothic. About 0.3 miles from Emerald Lake there is still a 15-25' high wall of snow covering the road. Past that a few hundred yards is a rock slide covering the road as well. Then just before the official pass where the sign is, there is a down pine tree across the road.

811 (Washington Gulch) is open all the way, from Gothic Rd all the way until it meets 734.

I wasnt out looking for gnarly 4x4 roads to play on (I'm not that skilled yet!), so I can't really provide any info on anything else, or any legit 4x4 trails, haha.

 

Call me lazy for not reading all 9 pages, but has anybody posted this link yet?

https://www.trailsoffroad.com/states/CO/high-country

 

Yep, probably a tough year but there were issues with some Status on Trailsoffroad that were in fact closed.

 

I think that site can be a good supplement. But it still doesn't hurt to post a report here should you feel inclined to. Mine above is a good example, since on that website the last report for Schofield Pass was from 6/25/19. The more info the better!

 

Absolutely! More info is better! Just take a minute and post there as well to share your report with a larger audience.

 

Personally, I confess I can be kind of a jerk about people getting off trail. I try to be nice about it, but it really pisses me off. Like you said, the pic doesn't show much. Seems like maybe the back tire is on dirt, but fronts are unquestionably on grass. If this is six feet of the trail during a big event where there are 10 other trucks around, I might not say anything. But there have been MANY times that I've (again, trying to be nice about it) asked folks who were on the tundra to stay on the dirt. Most are cool about it. ("Oh, sorry, I didn't realize...") Some are real tools. ("Yeah, whatever. Nobody asked you.") So far, no one has tried to punch me or anything.

So, given all that, I'm with you. Any company that wants me to buy from them needs to lead by example.

 

Welp, crossing Icon off my list