to Estes Park in May

[southtexas]

With the long closures on 36, how is 7 from Lyons with a 31 ft travel trailer? It was being worked on recently also.

[Thom02099]

Lauren wrote:
Have heard - from friends in Estes - that they do not recommend it for RV's - the surface is good but the curves and sides are not. On the other hand, hear from other people in Estes (they have businesses there!) that is it is fine and absolutely no issues (none of them own an RV).

Maybe Thom can give us a good RV opinion.

That was the way I was planning to go up to Estes this weekend, but I'm going to wait til next weekend. I drove it 2 weeks ago without the trailer, and the road itself didn't seem any different than pre-flood, other than the increased number of barricades in the Narrows area. But they didn't encroach on the travel lane, simply replaced the guard rail that was previously there. That would be the only place I'd say there might be a difference, for folks with bigger rigs than my 25ft trailer.

ETA: There was one spot where CDOT was doing some slide mitigation, it's at the top of the Narrows area, just before you get to the Cherry Jelly shop (those who've been that way know where I'm talking about!) It's in the vicinity of MM 66 in the Canyon; there are periodic delays, up to 30 minutes, but I only had to wait about 10 minutes. Word is they are trying to get it all done before the tourist season kicks into high gear over Memorial Day. My guess is, if there's further work to be done beyond Memorial Day, they will likely do it at night if possible, to minimize the traffic impact.

[Lauren]

Have heard - from friends in Estes - that they do not recommend it for RV's - the surface is good but the curves and sides are not. On the other hand, hear from other people in Estes (they have businesses there!) that is it is fine and absolutely no issues (none of them own an RV).

Maybe Thom can give us a good RV opinion.

[southtexas]

How is the drive from with the construction on 34 from Loveland to Estes Park? (in comparison to 7)

[Thom02099]

Lauren wrote:
Check the weather forecast.

+1 on that, especially given what's happening THIS weekend. Woke up this morning to bright sunshine at 6:30...now coming up on 8:15 and now hazy with a hint of clouds building up. This one could be a doozy!

[Lauren]

Check the weather forecast.

[Thom02099]

southtexas wrote:
With the long closures on 36, how is 7 from Lyons with a 31 ft travel trailer? It was being worked on recently also.

CO 7 is fine. It was the first to reopen after the floods. Not aware of any major construction projects going on there, the CDOT site doesn't mention anything either. They may be some periodic mitigation work, but shouldn't cause any delays. It's not a difficult drive, a bit curvy in the lower part from Lyons up to Raymond in the S St Vrain Canyon. From Raymond to Estes is a nice drive, good road surface, a few ups and downs, but nothing significant.

Went through Lyons about 2 weeks ago, it's making a lot of rebuilding progress. Still a lot of signs of damage in town, but mainly right along the river. The intersection of the S St Vrain and the N St Vrain...that area was back to normal, could hardly tell there had been a flood there, where CO 7 and US 36 meet. Just past the intersection though, was a different matter, still some damage to homes along both rivers. CO 7 follows the S St Vrain up to Raymond, then on up through Allenspark. Even though there was flooding up that way, it wasn't as bad as the N St Vrain.