I-70 Glenwood Canyon Colorado fire closure

Thom02099 wrote:

Roadtrip920 wrote:

4runnerguy wrote:
Based on last nights briefing, I'm guessing maybe another week, maybe more, before the canyon opens up.

It's amazingly quiet at night right now, as there is no through traffic on the interstate.

Is there a safe alternative route if I70 does not open soon from Silt to Estes Park? We have a 36ft 5th wheel.

H E R E is a link to the recommended detour. There just is no easy way around that area. You don't need to take US 285 all the way in to Denver. You can take CO 9 to Breckenridge and Frisco and get back on I-70, then take I-70 to the Central City Parkway. That takes you in to CC/Black Hawk where you can pick up CO 119 to Nederland then CO 72 to CO 7 in to Estes Park.

Yeah, there really aren't many choices. Even if you wanted to pull over Trail Ridge Road (not necessarily for rookies) I was reminded today by a friend who is heading to see family in Estes Park tomorrow that one has to have a reservation to even enter Rocky Mountain National Park. So she's taking the long way.

What ever you do, don't try Independence Pass with your rig.

From Silt, you can backtrack all the way to Grand Junction then south and east on US 50.

Another route, probably a little longer time wise (although shorter distance) is to head into Glenwood Springs, head south on CO 82 to Carbondale, catch CO 133 over McClure Pass, the CO 92 to US 50. Make sure you fill in Silt or GWS as the few stations past that are pretty pricey. This is a more scenic route taking up the Crystal River Valley past Redstone. On CO 92, you'll be above the upper parts of Black Canyon of the Gunnison. There are a couple of pullouts where you can look down on Morrow Point Reservoir. Not much traffic so pretty easy to pull in.