(The below information is a synopsis of info from various sources)
Here it is, the 1st of March. Current weather has me, and I'm sure many others, thinking about plans for this season of camping. Already got some reservations in place and lining up others.
If you're beginning your plans or thinking about coming to Estes Park and RMNP this year (and next), here's some information to be aware of.
In 2013, major flooding destroyed much of the roadways on accesses to Estes Park via US 34, US 36, and CO 7. US 36 had extensive repairs done shortly after the flood with more permanent repairs completed last year.
US 34/The Big Thompson Canyon sustained severe damage, but thanks to efforts by our state government, the roadway was temporarily repaired and re-opened in ~3 months. Having driven it many times, one would not know that the repairs were temporary. However, they were. And now the fun begins.
US 34 will undergo permanent reconstruction on a 21 mile stretch, from Loveland to Estes Park, beginning this Spring 2016. The construction project has been awarded to a construction company and they have been actively involved in the environmental and design aspects of this project. Under normal circumstances, this project would take approximately 10 years. It has been fast tracked to be completed in 2 years.
Construction will be in 10 segments, and some of the segments will be done simultaneously, ie, a segment above Drake and a segment below Drake. As of today, there is no timetable, but tentative plans are to begin as soon as possible in the spring, when weather permits. There have been rumours that entire segments of The Big Thompson Canyon would be closed down, which is not true, according to various sources. However, there will be delays and some of them could be significant. Planned closures for several hours at a time are under consideration, with as minimal an impact to tourist traffic as possible. But there will be impacts. A major reason for impact is that in many places the roadway is going to be elevated/relocated, and placed on bedrock versus in-fill, which will necessitate some blasting of rock. Additionally, a lot of the construction material will need to be trucked in/out of the canyon.
If you are planning your trips to Estes Park/RMNP, please consider using US 36 from Lyons to Estes Park as your primary means of getting there. US 36 in Lyons can be accessed from Boulder, or from Longmont/I-25 area via the exit for CO 66 between Longmont and Lyons. This is a good, flat roadway to Lyons and an excellent way to get to Estes Park/RMNP while construction is going on in the Big Thompson Canyon.
This project is slated to continue into the 2017 travel season as well, with completion scheduled for Fall 2017.
H E R E is a Google search for various sources of information. One can also sign up for alerts to be sent via email/SMS message at
T H I S CDOT website; scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for the little envelope/bubble icon to sign up.
Hope this information can be useful to folks planning to visit our beautiful part of Colorado over the next 2 seasons! :B
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