Plus other notable Colorado mountain passes and their potential reopening dates in 2026
Colorado has several high-mountain passes, including infamous Trail Ridge Road.
Other popular passes like Cottonwood Pass and Independence Pass are closed during the winter and early-spring months due to heavy snow build up.
Opening each of them requires a lot of work from road crews as well as some help from Mother Nature.
Because winter 2025/26 brought record-low snowfall across the entire state, those low snowfall totals have led to the possibilities of having some to potentially all of the high-mountain passes open earlier than expected.
Guanella Pass, south of Georgetown along the I-70 corridor, typically opens the Thursday before or the Memorial Day weekend, with this year being on May 21.
However, Clear Creek County said at its Board of County Commissioners meeting on April 7 there is potential to open Guanella Pass on April 16, marking the earliest the pass would ever open if it happens.
The good news is that Guanella Pass will officially open early for the summer season at 9 a.m., Thursday, April 16, Clear Creek County announced in a statement Thursday evening.
“This early opening is a testament to the seamless partnership between Clear Creek County, Park County, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service,” Clear Creek County Public Works Director Stoy Streepey said. “We hope visitors enjoy this rare, early access to the pass, and we ask that everyone helps us keep the route safe and accessible by following parking regulations and staying prepared for changing mountain weather.”
Clear Creek County is also telling visitors heading out to enjoy the byway it wants to remind the public that Clear Creek County Ordinance #14 regulates parking on all county roads and rights-of-way and that ordinance requires all vehicles be parked fully off the paved portion of the roadway.
“Proper parking is essential to maintaining traffic flow and ensuring that emergency vehicles can pass through the corridor safely,” the County said.
Clear Creek County also said that conditions currently allow for travel, “visitors should be aware that the pass remains subject to temporary closures if spring snowstorms create hazardous driving conditions.”
The thought process to open early
Over the week to 10 days, Clear Creek County have been looking at the possibility of opening Guanella Pass early due to the extreme low snowpack from winter 2025/26.
“Clear Creek County staff are evaluating the potential to advance the seasonal opening of Guanella Pass
from its typical timeframe around Memorial Day to as early as April 16, 2026,” Clear Creek County’s Board of County Commissioners said in a April 7 Board Agenda Background Work Session note ahead of the meeting Tuesday night.
The Road & Bridge Department has been coordinating with several other government agencies, including multiple National Forest offices, Park County, and the Clear Creek Ranger District and South Platte Ranger District.
“Generally keep the pass closed due to the avalanche danger and the snowpack is too high, (but) that doesn’t exist right now. That doesn’t say it won’t change,” Deputy County Manager Colton Rohloff said in the meeting.
The operational plan was said to be a two phase plan.
One, what needs done to get the pass open?
According to Rohloff, the Clear Creek and South Platte Ranger districts of the Forest Service are supportive of the idea, however, the South Platte district has some concerns about wildlife impacts, as well as Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“The reality is though, without the risk there, the road probably can be opened by the 16th of April,” Rohloff said. “Right now it is clear. We spent some time clearing it. The forest service is going to work on the restrooms, make sure at the summit they are open.”
Guanella Pass opening early could give an injection to visitation on the west side because of the poor snow season, and could potentially draw visitors up to Grant and Georgetown to patronize businesses sooner, Rohloff said.
Two, if Guanella Pass does get a big snow event, like 6 inches in 48 hours, Road & Bridge would have to close the road and sweep the pass, including checking for people at the campsites along the highway, before closing the road, then clearing it, then reopening it.
“The safety issues usually associated with why Guanella Pass is closed during this time period would still be present if we got a significant amount of snow,” Rohloff said.
The Board concurred with Road & Bridge about the two concerns addressed in the meeting.
One point brought up by the Board was would Guanella Pass receive first priority over secondary maintained roads being plowed in the event a large-scale snow storm came through.
The potential stopping of maintaining secondary maintained roads first is that that service is for local residents, and if that service was delayed a full day, it could keep people stranded in their homes.
The solution: Close Guanella Pass at the time of the snow event, and “not have any obligation to reopen it until we’ve handled our taxpayer’s, residents first,” Rohloff said.
If Guanella Pass were to open on April 16, it would only be open contingent upon the weather, and Road & Bridge would close the road 48 hours ahead of any potential snow event forecasted from that date until the traditional opening date of Memorial Day weekend.
Jennifer Fulton with the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office pointed out in an email to the Rocky Mountain Journal that the Road & Bridge Department said the earliest it thought it had opened Guanella Pass in the past was “maybe a week before Memorial Day,” but was unsure which year that was.
Other Colorado high-mountain passes
Independence Pass’ earliest opening date was May 11, 2012. Independence Pass typically opens the Thursday before the Memorial Day weekend, which in 2026 would be May 21.
Trail Ridge Road’s earliest opening date was May 7, 2002.
The Colorado Department of Transportation and the National Park Service try to open Trail Ridge Road during the last week of May, usually before the Memorial Day weekend.
No public word from agencies like CDOT or Rocky Mountain National Park are responsible for opening Trail Ridge Road have been sent out as of this article’s publication date.
Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend 2026, weather permitting. CDOT closed the Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway in Sept. 2024 due to a roadway construction project.
The closure began at the gate near the NFS welcome station, stretching to the summit parking area. Maintenance crews worked to repair the damaged roadway from the Summit Lake overflow parking lot to the switchback past Summit Lake during the extent of the closure.
CDOT says the road construction was completed in 2025, and the road from Echo Lake Lodge to the top of the mountain will reopen in May 2026.
Cottonwood Pass – Chaffee County, the high-mountain pass that connects Buena Vista in Chaffee County to Almont in Gunnison County usually opens in late May, just before the Memorial Day weekend.
No public word from agencies like CDOT or Chaffee County who are responsible for opening the Pass have been sent out as of this article’s publication date.
Cottonwood Pass – Eagle County, the other “Cottonwood Pass” in Eagle County, which runs from Gypsum to the Roaring Fork Valley, opens Saturday, April 11, according to Eagle County.
The Pass will be open, conditions permitting, and will remain open through the fall, with a closing date announced later in fall 2026.
Eagle County said drivers are urged to use caution when driving this road as traffic and weather can significantly impact road conditions. Portions of the road are not paved, and there are many sharp turns and steep drop-offs.
Cinnamon and Engineer Passes, Hinsdale County announced on April 9 that the Alpine Loop is open for the season.
“As of Thursday, April 9 the Alpine Loop is open all the way from the Hinsdale County side to San Juan and Ouray counties,” the county said on a Facebook post.
With the early season opening there is a good chance for snow storms that may make the road impassible temporarily, according to the County.
It advises drivers to use common sense when traveling in the back country, check the weather forecasts before heading out, and don’t drive through snow drifts.
