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Slow Going To Open Trail Ridge Road In Rocky Mountain National Park

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By NPT Staff - May 6th, 2019
Trail Ridge Road, late April 2019/National Park Service

A plow grinds through the snow near upper Hidden Valley on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park in late April/NPS

Today would be a good day to start a pool on when Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park will be fully open. It certainly won't be this week.

Each year Trail Ridge Road and Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park in Montana are among the last roads in the National Park System to open for summer visitation. While the tough task of opening Going-to-the-Sun Road can run into July after particularly strong winters, at Rocky Mountain the road that traverses the roof of the park from west to east and vice versa can open anywhere between May 7 and June 26.

The earliest opening of Trail Ridge Road came on May 7, 2002, and the latest opening was June 26 in 1943, according to park staff.

Due to recent spring snowstorms, park plow operators are experiencing significant drifts and snowpack at high elevations along the road. More snow is forecast for this week, park staff say.

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