Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

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Computrent
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Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by Computrent »

Hey Guys,

I saw on one of the trip reports for Bierstadt there is some roadwork being done on Guanella pass road coming from 285. Does anyone know a status on this construction. I was thinking of taking this route to Bierstadt instead of taking I70 to Georgetown because it looks like the road is less windy.

Anyways, open for comments.
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jaymz
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by jaymz »

I'm not sure if you mean "windy" as in "lots of wind," or a long 'i' as in "lots of hairpin turns"... I'll assume you mean the latter. :-D
There aren't as many tight turns as the Georgetown side, but the road on the Grant side is quite a mess right now. I was up that way about three weeks ago on a Saturday, so the road construction wasn't in full force. But a couple of friends went up the other day to see the aspens and said they had to sit still for about 45 minutes at one point coming down to Grant because of the road work; they recommended going up from Georgetown and coming back down the same way. Personally, I'm just going to avoid the Grant side until they're done - it's not worth the mess right now to me, but that's just me.
"But in every walk with Nature, one receives far more than he seeks."
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SoCool
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by SoCool »

I use the word "winding" to differentiate. Regardless of how it looks on a map, the road from Georgetown is good because it's paved to the pass. From the south, at this moment, it is not. Also they had closed off most of the dispersed camping pullouts when I was there a month ago.
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mtree
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by mtree »

The Grant side is currently being worked. During the week you'll experience delays. Weekends are fine. I was just up there on the 13th and had no trouble navigating the road. There will be a lot more leaf-lookers this weekend so traffic will be slower, plus the road on the Grant side is in pretty rough shape. Not recommended if you're rolling a 911 or similar sleds.
- I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was blaming you.
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adamjm
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by adamjm »

If you're coming from Denver or anywhere north, you'll waste a lot of time getting there via 285. The road up the Georgetown side isn't bad at all, just a few hairpins at the beginning.
Computrent
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by Computrent »

I've come via the 70 before, but thought I would try something different. It sounds like the 70 is going to be the better route to take. I'm just trying
to get away from the windies up guanella pass road from georgetown. I don't know, maybe I'm being too picky.:)
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Beer Delivery Man
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by Beer Delivery Man »

Just up there on the 20th via 285 and Grant. At 5am the drive was great. However coming back down the road was loaded with leaf peepers. Didn't seem the construction really impacted the drive as much as the congestion. There are a couple of spots where the road narrows down to close to one lane, and with all the traffic it was a cloud of dust all the way back to 285. Overall, even with the construction, the road seemed to be less rutted and pot-holed than past years, if there's a bright spot!
PaliKona
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by PaliKona »

Beer Delivery Man wrote:Just up there on the 20th via 285 and Grant. At 5am the drive was great. However coming back down the road was loaded with leaf peepers. Didn't seem the construction really impacted the drive as much as the congestion. There are a couple of spots where the road narrows down to close to one lane, and with all the traffic it was a cloud of dust all the way back to 285. Overall, even with the construction, the road seemed to be less rutted and pot-holed than past years, if there's a bright spot!
if you see my comment from the Fall Colors 2014 thread, the road near Grant yesterday (and future?) was unbearable. It wasn't the congestion, it was the fact that at each of the 2 one lane closure spots, crews worked for 30 mins minimum while traffic sat. I was trying to hike up the Abyss Lake trail, only to find it now closed. Wasted almost 2 hours getting in and out without hiking. Not sure if the weekends are open, but during the week now, that 3 miles stretch is horrible.
lovetohike
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Re: Guanella Pass Road construction from 285

Post by lovetohike »

My husband and I hiked the Abyss Lake Trail on Wednesday. It's open. The gate looks closed--just go around it. We came in from the I-70 side and they made us park on the road about 500 feet from the trailhead. After we finished, though, we had to wait 45 minutes for the line-up of cars to be escorted to 285 via a pilot car. The 6 mile journey took an hour due to stopping for work, trucks, etc. I strongly advise against taking the Guanella Pass Road from 285, at least during the week. We were told that work ceases on the weekend. The Abyss Lake Trail was absolutely gorgeous with changing aspen.
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