Another highway closure due to a fire that has exploded in size. CO 14 through Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins is now closed due to the Cameron Peak fire in the area of Chambers Lake. Closure is at Rustic on the east side and in Walden on the west side, a distance of about 45 miles. Mandatory evacuations in the immediate area around Chambers Lake Campground, Tunnel Campground and Browns Park Campground in addition to a lot of boondocking areas along the Laramie River Road. Voluntary evacuations in the area closer to Rustic, included the Archer's Resort area, as well as the area west of Red Feather Lakes.Fire has rapidly grown to over 1500 acres, and is in an area with a lot of beetle kill stands. Low humidity, winds and rough terrain are hampering firefighting efforts.ETA: D'oh! Thought I posted this in Roads and Routes. Moderator, if you can move please?

They are requesting people not even go up to Red Feather Lakes, and everything south of Deadman Rd is under evacuation. I'm due go up there next weekend to Crystal Lakes area, so we shall see if that happens. So very sad, we had a beautiful spot at Beaver Meadows a month ago.

JAC1982 wrote:They are requesting people not even go up to Red Feather Lakes, and everything south of Deadman Rd is under evacuation. I'm due go up there next weekend to Crystal Lakes area, so we shall see if that happens. So very sad, we had a beautiful spot at Beaver Meadows a month ago.Also have a trip planned up the Poudre, to Ranger Lakes CG the weekend of the 21st. Right in the middle of the closure area on the down side of Cameron Pass. Haven't gotten the cancel notice yet from CPW but no doubt will.

Yeah I ended up just booking a room at an Inn in Centennial, WY instead. We could camp up there, but I won't chance showing up on a Friday anywhere this year without a reservation. So far the Red Feather area is still safe but that's not somewhere I'd want to be stuck if the fire changes directions. Not a lot of ways out.

Update 08.22.20Fire is now up over 16000 acres and jumped CO 14 and is now burning on the south side Poudre Canyon as well. CO 14 is closed from Rustic to Gould. All of the campgrounds in the Poudre have been closed as far east as the Stove Prairie Road area as well as Bellaire Lake CG outside of Red Feather Lakes (15 miles from the current fire activity). Oddly enough the Ranger Lakes, Bockman and Michigan Lake CGs in the State Forest SP are still open. Fire appears to be moving in an easterly direction, perhaps the reason they are still open. H E R E is updated information from Incident Command website. From personal knowledge and experience, there is a LOT of dead beetle kill trees in that area, so there's considerable fuel for the fire. We can only hope for some monsoon moisture to help the firefighters working this fire.

Thom02099 wrote:From personal knowledge and experience, there is a LOT of dead beetle kill trees in that area, so there's considerable fuel for the fire. We can only hope for some monsoon moisture to help the firefighters working this fire.My memory is dimming daily, but wasn't there a fire that threatened the Chambers Lake area in maybe the late 80's/early 90's?

CO 14/Poudre Canyon Closure-Cameron Peak Update 10.18.20

Thom02099
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2020
4runnerguy wrote:
Thom02099 wrote:
From personal knowledge and experience, there is a LOT of dead beetle kill trees in that area, so there's considerable fuel for the fire. We can only hope for some monsoon moisture to help the firefighters working this fire.
My memory is dimming daily, but wasn't there a fire that threatened the Chambers Lake area in maybe the late 80's/early 90's?

Hey Ken....you might be thinking of the Kilpecker Fire that was in the late 70s between Red Feather Lakes and the Laramie River Valley. Wasn't all that big in comparison to fires of today's measurement, but was a significant fire at the time. There's still scars from that fire visible west of Red Feather off the Deadman Road and the Green Ridge Road.
4runnerguy
Explorer
Aug 22, 2020
Thom02099 wrote:
From personal knowledge and experience, there is a LOT of dead beetle kill trees in that area, so there's considerable fuel for the fire. We can only hope for some monsoon moisture to help the firefighters working this fire.
My memory is dimming daily, but wasn't there a fire that threatened the Chambers Lake area in maybe the late 80's/early 90's?
Thom02099
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2020
Update 08.22.20

Fire is now up over 16000 acres and jumped CO 14 and is now burning on the south side Poudre Canyon as well. CO 14 is closed from Rustic to Gould. All of the campgrounds in the Poudre have been closed as far east as the Stove Prairie Road area as well as Bellaire Lake CG outside of Red Feather Lakes (15 miles from the current fire activity). Oddly enough the Ranger Lakes, Bockman and Michigan Lake CGs in the State Forest SP are still open. Fire appears to be moving in an easterly direction, perhaps the reason they are still open.

H E R E is updated information from Incident Command website.

From personal knowledge and experience, there is a LOT of dead beetle kill trees in that area, so there's considerable fuel for the fire. We can only hope for some monsoon moisture to help the firefighters working this fire.
JAC1982
Explorer
Aug 17, 2020
Yeah I ended up just booking a room at an Inn in Centennial, WY instead. We could camp up there, but I won't chance showing up on a Friday anywhere this year without a reservation. So far the Red Feather area is still safe but that's not somewhere I'd want to be stuck if the fire changes directions. Not a lot of ways out.
Thom02099
Explorer II
Aug 14, 2020
JAC1982 wrote:
They are requesting people not even go up to Red Feather Lakes, and everything south of Deadman Rd is under evacuation. I'm due go up there next weekend to Crystal Lakes area, so we shall see if that happens. So very sad, we had a beautiful spot at Beaver Meadows a month ago.

Also have a trip planned up the Poudre, to Ranger Lakes CG the weekend of the 21st. Right in the middle of the closure area on the down side of Cameron Pass. Haven't gotten the cancel notice yet from CPW but no doubt will.
JAC1982
Explorer
Aug 14, 2020
They are requesting people not even go up to Red Feather Lakes, and everything south of Deadman Rd is under evacuation. I'm due go up there next weekend to Crystal Lakes area, so we shall see if that happens. So very sad, we had a beautiful spot at Beaver Meadows a month ago.

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