Is Estes Park affected by wild fires?
 

Hi there! We are planning to leave 6/16 to go to Estes Park then on to Laramie, WY. We are so very saddened by the news of the fire and all of the people in the Fort Collins area who are being directly affected. Wondering if anyone could provide us with any information about Estes Park or Laramie, WY? We are taking children and our son has asthma and does not do well with smoke. I spoke with the visitors center and she told me it is clear in Estes Park. I would so appreciate any information anyone could provide!

I have not heard anything about Estes being involved. Fires are unpredictable, of course, but take a look at a map and you can see where it is now-- it just hopped the river in Poudre Canyon.

Hopefully, you should be fine.

Colorado is a tinder box this summer, though, so expect more. We had a dry winter, and have lots of beetle-kill pines which are completely dead. Nature might have to do her thing, and burn up all that fuel. Not a happy idea. Sorry.

I was in Estes Park on MOnday-Tuesday, and the skies were clear; you could see smoke plumes in the distance from Trail Ridge Road.
Laramie might be pretty smoky, though.
BTW, Bear Lake Road is closed to everything but shuttle buses from 9 to 4 every day through the summer, so plan accordingly. You could take the road in 1 mile to a shuttle stop at Moraine museum, but there were delays of ~15 minutes for even that, depending. There was also a little bit of road repair work on Trail Ridge, but delays were minimal.

BTW, call the park just before you go, if you have health concerns; who knows what winds will do? (but usually westerly, so you should be ok)

I agree about calling as conditions change with the wind. Are you on Facebook? Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park had the following update 6 hours ago.

"An ozone advisory is in effect for Rocky Mountain National Park (both east and west sides) through midnight tonight. Ozone pollution in the park has reached or is expected to reach unhealthy levels for sensitive groups during this period. Sensitive groups include children; people with lung diseases, such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema; older adults; and active people who work or exercise outdoors. ks"

Sometimes I think that any bad air is due to the hundreds of campfires (after the propane stove--RV or portable--used for actual cooking is off).

Thank you all so much for the information!

Hickenlooper has now banned all fires in Colorado. Were you planning on camping?

This model shows light winds coming out of the southwest for northern Colorado on Sunday morning.
http://weather.unisys.com/nam/nam.ph...urf&inv=0&t=48

But the NWS predicts stronger gusty winds from the west.

Either scenario should be OK for Estes Park but less so for Laramie. Fort Collins has been from bad to OK all week, but never completely good. Winds are whipping around crazily this morning, but mostly blowing the smoke north.

Hard to say, but I'm planning to hike Crosier Mountain outside of Estes tomorrow because I think the air will be OK up there. Good luck on your trip!

I hiked Crosier Mountain today which is near Glen Haven, not far from Estes. When we left the trailhead at about 10:30 we could definitely smell smoke from the High Park fire. By noon the winds had shifted and the air was clear and fresh, Rocky Mountain pine scented. Felt wonderful.

So it's a crap shoot depending on the wind. Good luck!

The fire ban only extends to open fires. Fires are still permitted in approved camping areas, and approved fire rings/enclosures within the camping areas.