The Fall River Road through Rocky Mountain National Park is scheduled to be open again for autos on July 4th.

Fall River Road Scheduled to Open Again for the July 4th Weekend

The Fall River Road is the one-way uphill dirt road in Rocky Mountain National Park that connects the east-side Horseshoe Park Valley ( 8500') with the Fall River Pass (11,796'), just east of the Continental Divide where it joins back with highway 34 (Trailridge Road), the highest contiguous highway in the U.S.  These two roads meet at the Alpine Visitor Center, which opened again on Memorial Day weekend this year as scheduled.

                    Eric nearing the Fall River Pass after an attempt on Mount Chiquita on July 2nd, 2008. 

The Fall River Road is the original route over Fall River Pass that connects easily with Milner Pass to provide a more direct way west across the Continental Divide from the Estes Valley to the west-side Frasier Valley.  This is now a secondary dirt road that is only one-way for auto traffic in an uphill direction as it parallels Trailridge Road, the main east-west highway across the center of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).

   Looking east down the Fall River Canyon with Mount Chapin (12,454') on the left and Sundance Mountain (12,466') on the right.

Call the RMNP road conditions report at (970) 586-1206 for the latest on road closures and conditions.  New snow or heavy rains can easily close either of these high elevation roads and rock fall can quickly make the Fall River Road impassable.

  The north-facing Sundance Bowl ski run that descends from near the summit of Sundance Mountain into the Fall River Valley.

A big part of the appeal to the opening of this RV-free bypass is the more direct access this road gives to the Mummy Range on the northern end of RMNP and to the most close-to-the-road big ski descent, the  2300' vertical Sundance Bowl descent on Sundance Mountain.  This long-lasting pitch of snow is usually saved until the opening of Trailridge Road in early June with a return trip up to the starting point necessary for each loop.  For those who are a bit lazier and don't mind releasing a larger carbon footprint into the atmosphere, a car-shuttle can be done from the Fall River Road (once it's open) up to the starting point - the more cars left on Fall River Road, the more quick shuttles can be done in a short time.  Hitchhiking could also work but don't quote me on that and do it at your own risk!

Another great route option available with the opening of this road is to access the famous Blitzen Ridge from the Chapin Pass trailhead (11,000')  on Fall River Road.  The route is an easy 2 miles and 2500' vertical gain up to the summit of Ypsilon, and from there, a descent of 1/2 mile down to the north to Fay Lakes at 11,200' and from there, gain the Blitzen Ridge to return back to the summit at 13, 514' then back to Chapin Pass and the vehicle.  This approach is by far the shortest and easiest way to reach one of RMNP's most sought-after alpine rock routes.