Boulder Wagon Road

[Rzeppa]

Does anyone know if it is open? We were in Winter Park on Sunday and almost decided to try driving over Rollins Pass to Rollinsville, but last I heard the Boulder Ranger District had closed it, even though I read somewhere that there was some law passed that said it was supposed to remain open. I have been digging around on the web and find conflicting info - some places say you can drive it but that it is difficult, others say it is closed to motorized vehicular traffic.

 

[LXBRADY]

It's been closed for years.

 

[treerootCO]

I'll add my 2 cents and keep my reply as short as humanly possible.

• Boulder Wagon Road is closed and has been for years
• Multiple members of RS tried to keep it open
• I 'feel' the Clear Creek and Boulder ranger districts used our volunteer efforts to close roads.
• I am at a loss, I am tired, and no longer have the passion I once had to keep fighting land use battles.
• To this day, I have attended most if not all clean up runs and will continue to help with this effort.
• I will NOT help the forest service close off access to LEGAL routes.
• I have a tremendous amount of respect for what the Forest Service does and even more respect for folks like Martin who represent both sides.

 

[rover67]

yeah it's closed. The deal regarding it being supposed to remain open that you mention above is probably what folks have discussed about it being an access road to Gilpin and Grand County and if they want it open Boulder can't close it.... but they did and are keeping it closed.

It is a big pile of horse ****.

It is very frustrating.

There is a HUGE thread on the adv rider board about it that is good reading.

 

[Uncle Ben]

Boulder Wagon Road has issues that are difficult to resolve to the point where it could be opened. Two of the main issues are the exposed natural gas line that parallels it for about 1/4 mile and the fact that it runs the border of the wilderness area. Those issues alone have been more than enough to keep Boulder out of hot water by not complying with the ruling that if the majority of jurisdictions want a road open the minority has to follow. It is bullpucky and typical of Boulder County Liberaltics.

 

[Rzeppa]

Thanks for all the replies. It just wasn't clear from all the reading I had done online what the current status was. I remember some years ago when Bill Morgan was our Land Use Coordinator, he had mentioned working with (somebodies???) on getting it reopened.

This is a quote from Wikipedia:

The BWR is a four-wheel-drive road not suited to lower clearance two-wheel-drive vehicles. Although open prior to 2008 and in good condition, this road remains to this day a subject of much controversy between its users and some officials who want it closed. In 2002 the James Peak Wilderness and Protection Area Bill (aka Public Law 107-216) was signed into legislation by President George W. Bush and Congress. The Bill specifically created a narrow road corridor between the Indian Peaks and James Peaks Wilderness areas and states that if any of the affected counties (Grand, Gilpin or Boulder) request, the Secretary of the USDA will cooperate and assist with the repair of the Rollins Pass Road and until that time the attendant road (the BWR) will remain open to motorized use. Boulder County officials and the USFS-Boulder Ranger District have resisted the wording of the law and have closed the BWR. Both Grand and Gilpin Counties have made numerous written requests to the Secretary for the repair of Rollins Pass Road but to date there has been no repair of the road or the barricaded Needles Eye Tunnel. The reopening of the BWR, and/or repair of the Rollins Pass Road, and even the facts surrounding the 1990 accident in the tunnel, have become contentious and ongoing issues.

It sounds to me that BRD is in violation of a federal statute!

Has anyone here in this forum been up there and seen the nature of the closure first hand? I mean, if it is just a sign that says it is closed, but you could drive around it, what would happen? Or is it one of those deals where they've put some giant rocks in the path and you'd need a Wild Rice style rig to get passed?

 

[rover67]

The BWR has a big metal gate across it near Jenny Creek along with stuff keeping folks from bypassing it on the steep slopes around it. On the West side it is less fortified. The Needle's Eye Tunnel is closed off with two stee/concrete walls and rocks that'd be suitable to protect some kind of military installation from attack.

You should get up there and check it out. The divide is beautiful up there and there is a ton of history. The twin testles are super neat..

 

[Uncle Ben]

Has anyone here in this forum been up there and seen the nature of the closure first hand? I mean, if it is just a sign that says it is closed, but you could drive around it, what would happen? Or is it one of those deals where they've put some giant rocks in the path and you'd need a Wild Rice style rig to get passed?

You will get a chance to see it first hand when you help out on the next work day on Jenny Creek.... There is still some fairly easy and not legal ways to do the wagon route without crossing any blockades..... If I caught you doing it and the ranger is not with me you might get injured!

 

[Rzeppa]

Thanks Marco. I might just go up there and check it out anyway. I've never been past the lake, only been up there when we do our work on Jenny Creek Trail. Are the trestles on the Winter Park (West) side or on the Rollinsville (East) side?

There are some really cool trails up there just past the tunnel itself, it is the headwater of Boulder Creek and we've done some hiking and exploring up there. Watching a train come out of the tunnel is really cool too, they've got these gigantic ventilation fans that are about as big and powerful as jet engines!

 

[Uncle Ben]

Thanks Marco. I might just go up there and check it out anyway. I've never been past the lake, only been up there when we do our work on Jenny Creek Trail. Are the trestles on the Winter Park (West) side or on the Rollinsville (East) side?

There are some really cool trails up there just past the tunnel itself, it is the headwater of Boulder Creek and we've done some hiking and exploring up there. Watching a train come out of the tunnel is really cool too, they've got these gigantic ventilation fans that are about as big and powerful as jet engines!

The big and long dilapidated trestle is on the RP side and visible from Yankee Doodle. There is a couple still standing very cool trestles at the top on the WP side accessible from WP.

 

[rover67]

Twin Trestles

 

[MountainGoat]

Twin Trestles

Wow. That brings back some memories of driving over Rollins Pass from Rollinsville to Winter Park in my brother's FJ40. Circa 1978. Those trestles were freakin scary!

 

[Red_Chili]

That's "Devil's Slide". Got some books on the DNW&PRR / Denver & Salt Lake with pictures of it, and 200 ton Mallet locomotives pulling freight over it. On the WP side is a loop named Riflesight Notch, where the track goes over a bridge and out on a finger of rock, loops around, and comes back under itself in a tunnel beneath the bridge. That tunnel is long since collapsed.

Locomotive 210 lost a side rod, which took out its air lines & brakes, and then left the rails about the end of the ridge at the looparound, going about 60, flying over another locomotive on its way down the mountainside. It then exploded. There are pieces of it still in the forest, though it's been picked over pretty well.

As tidy as it would be to sum up the BWR controversy as Boulder County Liberals vs. law and conservatives, that would not be anywhere close to accurate.

It is closer to the truth to say, Friends of the Indian Peaks Wilderness et.al. incensed at obvious irresponsible damage visible on the BWR caused by motorized users who no only will not respect the closure, but do not respect the trail route. Right next to Wilderness. Couple that with the liability concerns about the natural gas line (imagine some kind of accident resulting in fire in the middle of the forest with THAT), and motorized users have successfully and collectively shot themselves in the foot on ever seeing it open.

All the issues are solvable, but at more cost than anyone wants to put into it. Then you turn motorized users loose on it, which is like herding cats.

A sellable scenario? Good luck with that. It is a terrible loss.

Too many people wanting to follow their own rules and their own sense of right and wrong. Motorcyclists have been at the top of the offender pile, and I know one person in particular who is at the very top.

 

[rover67]

hey bill so your thread on ADV rider just died after the lawyer talks... is the above a summary of what resulted from that?

 

[Red_Chili]

It's kinda where it sits. Not sure anything resulted from any lawyer consultation. I have no hope of resolution.

 

[treerootCO]

Here is a picture of the road closure from the Rollins Pass side.

 

[treerootCO]

I saved this and haven't ever scanned it in. It made sense to scan it and post it to this thread. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The Moffat Road - self-guided auto tour.
Revised and reprinted through the effors and cooperation of:
The Grand County historical Association
The Rollins Pass Restoration Association
Aprapaho and Roosevelt National Forests

 

[treerootCO]

more:

 

[powderpig]

Very Cool Mike, thanks for sharing this.
Even Udal has not taken the right course and keep his word on keeping this route open. One of my favorite rides was coming back from Steamboat springs over this pass and having Lighting bounce all around us(The Lalley's and my family), it was just fantastic views.

 

[Rzeppa]

Wow - that scan is awesome, thanks Mike! That must be the brochure alluded to in this sign, below. That's my lovely wife Linda on the left and my granddaughter Athena on the right. For the record, Athena has decided that she loves bouncing around in a Land Cruiser!