Colorado's already hot spring is melting mountain snow and prompting U.S. Forest Service road closures near Vail Pass.
Earlier this week, the White River National Forest announced that it was closing some of its roads to protect resources, as some areas are already melted out.
Because of the closures, the agency said the only trailhead to access the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area — which has more than 119 miles of motorized and non-motorized winter trails — is from Vail Pass.
Here's the current list of closures, as provided by the U.S. Forest Service:
- The gate is closed on Resolution Road (rd. 702/ Winter trail #7). Camp Hale melted out, and Resolution Road melted past Pearl Creek.
- Red Cliff gate is closed (lower Turkey Creek rd. 709/ Winter Trail #4). The road is melted out from town up several miles.
- Wilder Gulch is closed to prevent resource damage (Winter Trail #6). Large areas of soil and vegetation are exposed on the trail and melting fast.
- Lower Shrine Bowl connector is closed (Winter Trail #2), so it no longer connects to Wilder Gulch, but you can still get to Shrine Bowl via Shrine Pass Road.
The forest service said these roads are still open and will continue to be groomed:
- Shrine Pass Road (rd. 709/ Winter Trail #1)
- Lime Creek (rd. 728/ Winter Trail #3)
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