US-50 - Gunnison

[dfandrews]

We are camping in Colorado this summer, and are booked in to Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP in August, with friends from Idaho, then are planning to traverse Monarch Pass to south and east.
My question is regarding US-50 west of Gunnison, which is closed due to structural problems on a bridge.

https://www.codot.gov/projects/us50bluemesa


There is a temporary gravel road bypass, but some codot documents indicate no trailers, while other seem to indicate just no commercial trailers.
Does anyone in the area have clear information, or eyes on?


We understand that they're hoping to have the US-50 bridge open in July, but since reservations are difficult to make and/or cheaply break in summer, we are trying to make plans B ,C, etc.
Thanks for the help.

 

[DanandDaphne]

The bridge is supposed to be open for one way traffic twice a day by July 4th and thereafter until the bridge is completely fixed. In August you should be fine but will need to plan your exit to go through when the bridge is open.

You can take the Lake City bypass but that is also only open twice a day with a pilot car. The other option I guess is CR12 between Crested Bute and Paonia but I don't know how good either of these roads are.

I would say your best bet is to use the bridge during the twice daily openings.

Edit, Non commercial trailer are allowed on the bypass

 

[Rossue2]

The other option I guess is CR12 between Crested Bute and Paonia but I don't know how good either of these roads are.

We did Kebler Pass- CR12 early September 2015. It is a awesome pass with huge aspens. When we went through there had been some rain the prior week. Traveling from Crested Butte to Paonia is a descent in elevation and the road was very slippery in some spots. Despite going very slow I could at times feel my trailer start to drift towards the oncoming lane. The trailer & tug were a mess from CDOT's use of magnesium chloride as a dust suppressant that when wet combines with the road base and becomes a special kind of mud.

Cottonwood Pass is another awesome road from Crested Butte to Leadville.

Have fun Don!

https://crestedbuttenews.com/?s=Kebler

 

[DanandDaphne]

We did Kebler Pass- CR12 early September 2015. It is a awesome pass with huge aspens. When we went through there had been some rain the prior week. Traveling from Crested Butte to Paonia is a descent in elevation and the road was very slippery in some spots. Despite going very slow I could at times feel my trailer start to drift towards the oncoming lane. The trailer & tug were a mess from CDOT's use of magnesium chloride as a dust suppressant that when wet combines with the road base and becomes a special kind of mud.

Cottonwood Pass is another awesome road from Crested Butte to Leadville.

Have fun Don!

https://crestedbuttenews.com/?s=Kebler

Cottonwood pass is beautiful but heading in the wrong direction from Crested Bute/Gunnison but it would be a beautiful route for your friends to take coming from the front range.

Yes fresh mag chloride is a mess but once it dries it really improves the conditions of a dirt road. It eliminates the huge dust clouds from every vehicle and it stabilizes the road surface to an almost as good as pavement if they do a good job. They do it to our county road every spring and it holds up pretty good all the way to the fall, almost totally eliminating washboards and pot holes.

Unfortunately it is also really hard on nearby conifers they are especially sensitive to salts and it eventually kills the trees close to the road that has mag chloride applied year after year.

 

[dfandrews]

Thanks much, Dan and Daphne; that last phrase, "non-commercial trailers CAN use the bypass", is what I was hoping to hear. And thanks to you and Ross for the additional info.
We're hoping that by the time of our trip, enough new steel has been applied to the bridge, so that US-50 is open. In accordance with our friends' wishes, our alternate is I-70E / US-24-Tennessee Pass, but it adds 190 mi.
This all is part of bigger bucket-list trips for which reservations were made months ago. Our friends from ID are doing the Utah parks, and we're continuing our railroad-centered visits. After all, the history of most of the U.S., especially the West, is the history of the railroads.

 

[JohnK-ESC]

After all, the history of most of the U.S., especially the West, is the history of the railroads.

Yes for most of the U.S history. The Kaw who were marched by foot from Kansas to Oklahoma so my ancestors could farm the land the Kaw had hunted and fished for generations, and then sell that produce to Santa Fe Railroad probably have a perspective that goes further back than U.S. history.

If the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad out of Chama NM is part of your tour you won't be disappointed. It's a fantastic narrow gauge railroad with a history all of its own. We like to camp on the US Forest dispersed camping area just behind the railroad station at Cumbres Pass, elevation 10,000 feet. The train stops through there twice a day complete with priceless views and whistle sounds. Wonderful days and nights there and right on the Continental Divide Trail for good hiking and views. If you include Cumbres in your travels let us know how it was.

John

 

[alanmalk]

...
If the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad out of Chama NM is part of your tour you won't be disappointed.

For those who are not familiar with the broken bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir (US-50), here is a photo from a different vantage.

(We are heading to Chama in 4 days, taking the Railroad.)