IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway (CO 5) will be closing on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, until the Spring of 2026 to all forms of travel in order to fix a stretch of road near Summit Lake.
“There's about seven tenths of a mile of stretch of roadway up at Summit Lake that needs to be reconstructed,” said Clear Creek district ranger Patsy McEntee. “For folks who've been up there in the last 10 years or so, you'll notice that you kind of have a bumpy ride getting up to the summit.”
That bumpy ride is caused by water underneath the ground, constantly freezing and thawing.
“The bumpiness is because of the hydraulics that happen up at that high alpine environment,” said McEntee. “Underneath that roadway surface, you have those natural dynamics going on, and that's the reason for the bumpiness and the road replacement.”
The road closure is going to span from the gate near the Forest Service welcome station to the summit parking area. The entirety of the scenic byway is going to be closed to pedestrians, bicycles, vehicles, and any other form of transportation.
For those who still want to see the summit, Chicago Lakes Trail and Bierstadt Trail will still be open to hikers. It’s about a 14 mile round-trip, but the facilities and emergency services that people may have gotten used to are not going to be there during the road closure.
“Hikers off of the road need to be prepared for high alpine environments that are unprotected and without any kind of services whatsoever,” said McEntee.
Labor Day is going to be the last chance for people to use the road until it is reopened in the Spring of 2026. Timed reservation tickets for this weekend are currently sold out online, but more timed entry tickets for Labor Day are being released at 8am on Saturday at recreation.gov.
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