RMNP Trail Ridge Road construction
 

This summer may not be the best time to drive over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. The two-lane road will have several miles torn up and replaced. It hasn't been done for 25 years, and Colorado's last winter really created a lot of pot-holes and other road damage. They predict at least one-hour traffic delays, and construction will take months.

But any mountain pass you drive in Colorado is beautiful, so don't despair! Try Berthoud Pass or Independence Pass, especially.
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Here's a link to a local news station's story on the construction: http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=69325

The good news is that Trail Ridge Road isn't going to be closed during the day, just limited to one lane in spots, hence the delays. It will be closed at night, though, so visitors should be careful not to be caught on the wrong side after dark unless they want to drive the long way around! Given there's so much to see on either side of the park without even going over the top, I don't think visitors should be discouraged from coming, just be patient if they're delayed.

We drove Trailridge last weekend, June 3, there were a few rough spots but no waits for construction. It's a beautiful drive and you should do it.

BeanMan

Hi I was just there this last weekend so I figure I'd pitch in. No construction at all to speak of (the signs that I saw also said that the construction is only a weekday thing anyway, but I might be wrong on this). The drive was very smooth-going, except of course there was limited parking at a lot of the turnouts.

Thank you for the updates. We are going in July and appreciate the info!

We drove Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitor center and back on June 14th. There were on average two delays of 5 to 15 minutes in each direction. The construction was located in the first section of Trail Ridge Road and ended at Rainbow((R))Curve, where tractor trailer trucks previously carrying asphalt were turning#o around after emptying their load. The delays in traffic permitted an opportunity to take more ((P)) of the snow covered peaks. We did not see much in the way of wildlife as compared to our last visit when there was no construction. Plenty of snow, breathtaking scenery, and no delays beyond rainbow curve.

For those of you who have done Trail Ridge Road recently, how long did it take to get to the Alpine Visitor Center?

It took us about an hour ((o))but we only stopped at ((R)) Curve, before proceeding to the Alpine visitor center.

There should be less construction delays now during the day than when we went in June, according to website: http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisi...road_const.htm