Wet Conditions Delay Road Openings on Canyon Lakes Ranger District

June 15th typically marks the day many seasonally closed roads on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Roosevelt National Forest open to the public. This year, due to wet conditions and flood damage, many of these roads will remained closed.

The only roads opening June 15th will be Dadd Gulch/Salt Cabin (#259) and Old Flowers (#152) west of Jack’s Gulch Campground. Lower Deadman (CR86) was still wet last weekend, but will be reassessed this weekend. Work is also expected to take place this weekend on Johnny Park (#118), and conditions will then be reassessed. Other roads already open in the Forest include the Laramie River Road (CR103), Pennock Pass and Pingree Park. Information on the status of roads is available on the Canyon Lakes Roads Status website.

The national forest emphasizes that it's important for the public to respect these closures. When roads and trails are this wet, it's easy to cause resource damage that can take a great deal of time and resources to correct. Visitors also run the risk of getting stuck in these muddy conditions.

Work is already occurring on some flood damaged roads and trails. Stay up to date by checking the flood recovery website.

It's also important for visitors to make safety your top priority when heading into the forest - your safety is your responsibility. Live and dead trees can fall without warning, especially with the abundance of saturated soil throughout the forest. You should also know weather conditions before heading out as well.



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com