Home
Posted By: saddlesore I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Those that plan on going on I-70 thru the canyon west of Dotsero in Colorado should note that the canyon is closed. A. humongous mud and rock slide that came off the burn scar has closed both lanes. CDOT estimating it may take weeks to clear.
Presently traffic is rerouted up CO rt 9 from Dillon to Kremmling, to reach I-40, then over to Craig and then south on CO-13 to Rifle Probably about a 150 mile detour.

This could affect archery hunters traveling thru and may even reach into muzzle loader season
Posted By: BeanMan Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
It wasn’t a humongous rock and mud slide, it was several. From my perspective its a good thing, much quieter on the Best Slope now.
Posted By: WTF Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Not so quiet in Meeker and Craig. The locals hate all of that traffic.
Mudslides or snowslides in Glenwood Canyon always close I70 down there. Nothing new to see here folks, keep moving.
Yep, much quieter here.
Posted By: BeanMan Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
i think you mean locals along the alternative route. It’s quieter here for sure. avalanches in Glenwood Canyon? It’s not snowy enough for that. You have to admit, having US50 closed except on weekends and I-70 closed does keep the Front Rangers out a bit in my part of the state.
Posted By: WTF Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Snow slides in the winter.
Of course I meant the detour.
Posted By: RIO7 Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21


I remember when the hi-way thru Glenwood Canyon, was a narrow 2 lane gravel road in the summer and 1 1/2 lanes wide in the winter, that was closed on a regular bases in the winter, and the land slides in Debque Canyon, were almost a weekly event, when Idaho Springs to Grand Junction was a gravel road. Chit I am old. Rio7
Posted By: jwall Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
CRAP, RIO, you ain't the only one. SMIRK with a frown
lol

Jerry
Posted By: 260Remguy Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Can you use the back road by Twin Lakes, CO-82, to get into Aspen and then pick up I-70 and continue west?
Posted By: TRnCO Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Probably can do that, not sure it'll be any faster than any other way around the closer. It will be a nice scenic ride at least.
Posted By: saddlesore Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Originally Posted by WTF
Not so quiet in Meeker and Craig. The locals hate all of that traffic.
Mudslides or snowslides in Glenwood Canyon always close I70 down there. Nothing new to see here folks, keep moving.
Yep, much quieter here.



This one is bit bigger with more damage than the regular slides that occur. Looks like after the debris is cleared there will be major reconstruction. Last year, it was the fire, now this as a result of the fire
Posted By: smokepole Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Originally Posted by BeanMan
i You have to admit, having US50 closed except on weekends and I-70 closed does keep the Front Rangers out a bit in my part of the state.


That's racist!
Posted By: Springcove Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Originally Posted by smokepole
Originally Posted by BeanMan
i You have to admit, having US50 closed except on weekends and I-70 closed does keep the Front Rangers out a bit in my part of the state.


That's racist!



That is grammatically incorrect. It’s “Das Rasis”…

Carry on
Posted By: BeanMan Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
You can go over Independence Pass but I saw coverage on the news last night of bumper to bumper stop and go traffic on hwy 82, no thanks. I’ve got to go to my Mom’s in Arvada next week, I think I’ll get up early enough to hopefully miss some of the traffic via Rifle, Meeker, Craig, Steamboat, Silverthorne.

I’m not looking forward to it.
Posted By: deltakid Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
Spent quite a bit of time with my brother in Delta in July, had to admit it was nice. In fact, I was kind of thinking that it was really nice that the west slope was cut off from the idiocy on the front range.
Posted By: WyoCoyoteHunter Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
The worst thing is the [bleep] from the front range will come to Wyoming.. They are unwanted pests..
Posted By: saddlesore Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
I guess you can always go over thru Gunnison,Montrose, up thru Paonia
Posted By: MAC Re: I 70 closed - 08/03/21
You can take 14 through Ft Collings over Cameron Pass to Walden and then drop down as well. I grew up in northern CO and haven't bothered with 70 for decades. It went to hell when the built Vail in the late 60s and early 70s.
Posted By: RIO7 Re: I 70 closed - 08/04/21


Some should has killed that little BASTARD John Denver, when he started singing Rocky Mountain High Rio7
Posted By: deltakid Re: I 70 closed - 08/04/21
Originally Posted by saddlesore
I guess you can always go over thru Gunnison,Montrose, up thru Paonia


I thought 50 was closed from about Cimmaron to Gunnison for rebuilding. Might be able to go Gunnison, up to Crested Butte, across to Paonia, and down to 50 again at Delta.
Posted By: WTF Re: I 70 closed - 08/04/21
Originally Posted by deltakid
Originally Posted by saddlesore
I guess you can always go over thru Gunnison,Montrose, up thru Paonia


I thought 50 was closed from about Cimmaron to Gunnison for rebuilding. Might be able to go Gunnison, up to Crested Butte, across to Paonia, and down to 50 again at Delta.


The construction was shut down for the detour. So 50 is all open now. However, the Front Rangers are welcome to take 80 thru Wyoming.
Posted By: saddlesore Re: I 70 closed - 08/04/21
Being a Front Ranger I guess, I wasn't taking about us. I thought maybe easterners coming from out of state could use the info before finding out when they got here they had another 220miles to go to get to their hunt area
Posted By: Sako76 Re: I 70 closed - 08/06/21
Thanks SS! Do you think it will be cleared for first rifle elk? I like taking the southern route out so as not to have to pass through Chitcago! Stay in Glenwood Springs or Rifle and then hit the rifle range in Meeker and then on to the hunting camp.
Posted By: Bighorn Re: I 70 closed - 08/06/21
Last month, when I think the Canyon was closed for mudslides the second time, wife and I were headed from the Pueblo area to Meeker to do some offroading east of Meeker in the Sleepy Cat Mtn. area. We took hwy. 50 to hwy. 9, thru Breckenridge to get to Silverthorne for the north detour up thru Kremmling, Steamboat Spgs, then Craig and south to Meeker- added about 2 hours to our travel.

4 days later, the canyon was still closed, so we headed south to Rifle, then east to Glenwood Spgs, and south to Aspen. It took a full hour to get thru the town of Aspen, which was crowded with tourists. Then, we headed over Independence Pass, which has a 35' vehicle length limit, and a $1500 fine if violated. My rig, towing my Polaris General, is 36' but at that point there was no turning back. The trip over Independence pass was a trip from Hell.

It will probably now be weeks, if not months, until the canyon is opened fully, depending on whether or not additional heavy rainfall occurs.
Posted By: saddlesore Re: I 70 closed - 08/06/21
Originally Posted by Sako76
Thanks SS! Do you think it will be cleared for first rifle elk? I like taking the southern route out so as not to have to pass through Chitcago! Stay in Glenwood Springs or Rifle and then hit the rifle range in Meeker and then on to the hunting camp.


Hard to say Sako.Right now they are reporting weeks to clear mud and rock.Form the news videos, it looks like it is mostly rock.. Right now the northern detour looks like you best bet.There are reports of gas shortages in Dillon, Kremmling, Steamboat, Craig, and Meeker from all the traffic
Posted By: dogcatcher223 Re: I 70 closed - 08/06/21
I'm loving the lack of traffic on my i70 commute. I cannot imagine it being closed much longer, they're under pressure to get it opened asap
Posted By: Sako76 Re: I 70 closed - 08/07/21
Thanks SS!
Posted By: saddlesore Re: I 70 closed - 08/12/21
Surprise.On the 4 o'clock news, Polis was on there saying he was sure I-70 would be open this coming Saturday. Just on the 6 o"clock news they said limited opening.So I am guessing maybe one lane in each direction.
Posted By: deltakid Re: I 70 closed - 08/12/21
As a kid growing up, we used to travel from Arvada to the ranch at Silt all the time, including middle of winter, spring rains, summer dry spells, etc. I do not remember ever having any issues getting through Glenwood Canyon at any time. Worst problems were going over Loveland Pass - I do remember setting at the bottom at the first big curve, in the line of traffic, waiting for the plows to open the road. I was glad, though, when Dad got transferred to Delta when I was a sophomore in high school. Liked the country a whole lot better, and did not have to fight the Denver idiots that were heading to the ski areas as things really cleared up in the winter once we hit the top of Vail (until they built Vail ski area), then it was Minturn, then Eagle as the condos got built in the ranch land between Minturn and Eagle. I think they really screwed something up with the geology when they built I70 through the canyon (and removed some good fishing spots).
Posted By: superdave Re: I 70 closed - 08/16/21
Sounds like they got it partially open. It's been closed nearly weekly all year. I highly recommend any traveler to watch cotrip.org. Gas stations in Craig are living large! Maybe with some of the infrastructure bill Biden bucks Amtrak will buy more time on the railroad.

There's no silver bullet for that mess in Glenwood Canyon. They'll need avalanche roofs like on the highway to Red Mtn plus work up that entire drainage system that spits onto the interstate if they want any sort of permanent fix.
Posted By: alpinecrick Re: I 70 closed - 08/17/21
Originally Posted by BeanMan
It wasn’t a humongous rock and mud slide, it was several. From my perspective its a good thing, much quieter on the Best Slope now.


Yesssss!!!!!!!!

Now all we need is a small earthquake on the Continental Divide and the Eisenhower Tunnel collapses......
Posted By: alpinecrick Re: I 70 closed - 08/17/21
Originally Posted by deltakid
As a kid growing up, we used to travel from Arvada to the ranch at Silt all the time, including middle of winter, spring rains, summer dry spells, etc. I do not remember ever having any issues getting through Glenwood Canyon at any time. Worst problems were going over Loveland Pass - I do remember setting at the bottom at the first big curve, in the line of traffic, waiting for the plows to open the road. I was glad, though, when Dad got transferred to Delta when I was a sophomore in high school. Liked the country a whole lot better, and did not have to fight the Denver idiots that were heading to the ski areas as things really cleared up in the winter once we hit the top of Vail (until they built Vail ski area), then it was Minturn, then Eagle as the condos got built in the ranch land between Minturn and Eagle. I think they really screwed something up with the geology when they built I70 through the canyon (and removed some good fishing spots).


There was a reason Glenwood Canyon was the last stretch of interstate to be built in the USA. Besides the engineering feat of fitting 4 lanes through there, the threat of rockslides/landslides/mudslides was predicted. Eventually they just ignored those risks and pressed on.
Posted By: Shed7 Re: I 70 closed - 08/24/21
maybe ill have less company hunting out here this year as often as its been closed lately.
Posted By: troublesome82 Re: I 70 closed - 08/24/21
Originally Posted by MAC
You can take 14 through Ft Collings over Cameron Pass to Walden and then drop down as well. I grew up in northern CO and haven't bothered with 70 for decades. It went to hell when the built Vail in the late 60s and early 70s.


I am just picking up old news from that area , but the monsoons this summer have closed many of the highways and FS roads for brief periods. 125 south out of Walden was closed a few weeks ago with debris and flooding. Am sure they are passable now though. The two big fires up there last fall has put a ton of ash and debris into the drainages.
Posted By: 5spd Re: I 70 closed - 09/14/21
Originally Posted by WyoCoyoteHunter
The worst thing is the [bleep] from the front range will come to Wyoming.. They are unwanted pests..

Yea, that's a fact.
Posted By: BigPine Re: I 70 closed - 09/14/21
I swear we didn’t defile Wyoming coming from Indiana to Co. on I-80

The route down from Rawlings and Baggs to Craig is interesting as a big section of pavement is gone and is dirt, and pretty darn rough for quite a few miles. It was like that 2 years ago and still is.
Posted By: WAM Re: I 70 closed - 09/14/21
Originally Posted by BigPine
I swear we didn’t defile Wyoming coming from Indiana to Co. on I-80

The route down from Rawlings and Baggs to Craig is interesting as a big section of pavement is gone and is dirt, and pretty darn rough for quite a few miles. It was like that 2 years ago and still is.


Where is that section? I drove 789/13 from Creston Jct to Baggs to Craig in 2019. Didn’t notice the dirt since it was hard pack snow and ice for the whole 93 miles. 😎
Posted By: BigPine Re: I 70 closed - 09/15/21
You must have been on it WAM . That is a lonely stretch of road . There is a temporary stoplight and a one way stretch for a ways. No cell service or a radio station you can pull in for most of it . We were headed to Meeker
Posted By: WAM Re: I 70 closed - 09/15/21
I drive through Ogden on 15 and hit I-84 thru Morgan then onto 80 across WY to 789 down thru Baggs onto CO-13 down to Hamilton, CO. I avoid that stretch during darkness for the reason you stated. Happy Trails
Posted By: captbutch Re: I 70 closed - 09/22/21
Originally Posted by WAM
I drive through Ogden on 15 and hit I-84 thru Morgan then onto 80 across WY to 789 down thru Baggs onto CO-13 down to Hamilton, CO. I avoid that stretch during darkness for the reason you stated. Happy Trails


Is this still jacked up? Last time I was there it was bad...
Posted By: WAM Re: I 70 closed - 09/23/21
Originally Posted by captbutch
Originally Posted by WAM
I drive through Ogden on 15 and hit I-84 thru Morgan then onto 80 across WY to 789 down thru Baggs onto CO-13 down to Hamilton, CO. I avoid that stretch during darkness for the reason you stated. Happy Trails


Is this still jacked up? Last time I was there it was bad...




Colorado DOT thru Oct 2 (maybe longer): Intermittent Traffic Stops, Alternating Single Lane Closures, on CO 13 Northbound / Southbound from milemarker 110.8 to 116.2, Crews will be working throughout the SH 13 corridor.

https://www.cotrip.org/map.htm#/default?RoadWorkAlertId=354737
Posted By: stuvwxyz Re: I 70 closed - 09/23/21
Just passed through going east. Lower lanes down to one lane about half way. Four lane rest of the way. No oncoming westbound traffic so assume there is a clear lane above. Traffic was flowing well.
Posted By: Sako76 Re: I 70 closed - 10/25/21
It's open both ways with a lot of construction.
© 24hourcampfire