Closing Black Bear Pass? (Monument: vehicle, parking, schedule)

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Drivers go up closed Colorado pass, get stuck

The sheriff's office said, as a reminder, the pass remains officially closed despite social media rumors to the contrary.

https://www.9news.com/article/traffi...9-ea10fcfda5c4

"SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, Colo. — People who drove up a closed mountain pass got stuck on a steep cliff this week in southwest Colorado.

The San Miguel Sherriff's Office (SMSO) said drivers are venturing up Black Bear Pass, which is officially closed, and are unable to make it over.

The sheriff's office said Monday that despite the mountain pass being officially closed, a vehicle got stuck below "the stairs," partially off the roadway, with the road completely blocked behind it."

I think the Sheriff's remarks are extremely inappropriate. I can find no official information on the road being closed. Black Bear Pass is a Forest Service road. The Forest Service website doesn't say anything about it being closed. The Sheriff's original statement was that the road is not "officially open". That would imply that it is open, but not officially. For example: The new highway is now open, but the official grand opening will be next month.

They need to do a better job of communicating with the public. Why is the road not "officially" open, and when can people expect it to be "officially" reopened. If they don't communicate with the public then people have to make their own determination.

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

I think the Sheriff's remarks are extremely inappropriate. I can find no official information on the road being closed. Black Bear Pass is a Forest Service road. The Forest Service website doesn't say anything about it being closed. The Sheriff's original statement was that the road is not "officially open". That would imply that it is open, but not officially. For example: The new highway is now open, but the official grand opening will be next month.

They need to do a better job of communicating with the public. Why is the road not "officially" open, and when can people expect it to be "officially" reopened. If they don't communicate with the public then people have to make their own determination.

I think the confusion is that the road had been open up to the summit, so the part of the road in San Juan County was open, while the San Miguel (Telluride) side with the switchbacks was closed due to deep snow drifts. While I absolutely do NOT condone what the folks did, if there aren’t any signs, I could see how they might have thought it’s okay to bust through the snow drifts.

I haven’t been down there myself this year, but some of the websites I use that provide trip reports that are usually reliable have comments saying it was “partially open to the summit.”

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

I think the confusion is that the road had been open up to the summit, so the part of the road in San Juan County was open, while the San Miguel (Telluride) side with the switchbacks was closed due to deep snow drifts. While I absolutely do NOT condone what the folks did, if there aren’t any signs, I could see how they might have thought it’s okay to bust through the snow drifts.

I haven’t been down there myself this year, but some of the websites I use that provide trip reports that are usually reliable have comments saying it was “partially open to the summit.”

Even if there are Closed signs on the road it doesn't necessarily mean much. On a slightly related topic, over a year ago, several Denver news media outlets reported that the Continental Divide Trail through Rocky Mountain National Park had been re-opened for the first time in over a year after the fires there. So a lot of CDT thru hikers started hiking through RMNP again, despite the Trail Closed signs that were still posted on the trailheads. To this day the National Park Service still shows that trail as closed and I believe the Closed signs are still posted. So who are hikers supposed to believe? The news media who say its open, or the NPS who says its closed? If the news reports were wrong, then the NPS should have asked that they be corrected. But the NPS has been silent on the matter. So the trail is open to those who choose to ignore the Closed signs, and closed to everyone else. I expect the Black Bear Pass road is a similar situation.

[Phil P]

Since the Covid outdoor awakening, this type of stuff has gotten worse. Thing that gets me is you'd expect this stuff by like Montezuma or out of Idaho Springs. How the heck does Ouray get all this jeep traffic? It's the middle of nowhere!

It seems like the 14er version of jeeping, FOMO for life if you don't do this road that's actually way above your capabilities. Lot's of bozos doing these things hiking 14ers too, they see it on their Reels on social media and think my life is incomplete if I can't one up everyone else!

I had one this March, hiked Pikes Peak with two acquaintances from GA. From the outset, I said I'm just going to Barr camp and turning around there, recommended they do the same. The people at Barr Camp said you're not gonna make the train down in time, they went for the summit anyways, got lost for a while and missed the train, then had to get rescued by the Pikes Peak road people and pay $200 a piece lol.

The thing that makes Jeepers a lot worse is if you screw up, you die and leave a bunch of **** all over the mountain side from your wreck.

[echo7tango]

Ouray and the six counties in the southwest corner of Colorado have much to offer regarding Jeep trails. I live in San Francisco and plan to head there and explore that area with my WK2 Grand Cherokee — she is mostly stock with larger A/T tires, stock suspension, but I’ve taken her places that many Rubicon Wrangler guys don’t venture. The Grand Cherokee is very capable. And she’s much, much more comfortable.

Black Bear Pass is definitely on my list. The Steps don’t look too bad, and the views are spectacular. Yes I am fully aware that if you do something stupid, the force of gravity will pull you off of that mountain in a heartbeat. And I fully agree that those trails should be marked with signs saying DON’T BE STUPID OR WE WILL CHARGE YOU IF WE HAVE TO SAVE YOUR DUMB A$$.

I’d better get to Black Bear Pass soon before they close it!

[interloper1138]

Originally Posted by Phil P

Thing that gets me is you'd expect this stuff by like Montezuma or out of Idaho Springs. How the heck does Ouray get all this jeep traffic? It's the middle of nowhere! .

Many, many people plan their entire vacations around jeeping in the San Juans. The Alpine Loop especially has some of the most spectacular jeep roads in the country. I don't off-road for fun, but rather to get to harder to reach trailheads and have spent a lot of time in that area. I haven't done Black Bear, but I've done many of the other nearby passes and can confirm that there's no shortage of off-road traffic from all over the country as well as Colorado.

Pick any pass in that area on a Saturday in the summer and it's practically a non-stop conga line of Oklahomans, Kansans, Texans, New Mexicans, Californians, and fellow Coloradans.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by echo7tango

Ouray and the six counties in the southwest corner of Colorado have much to offer regarding Jeep trails. I live in San Francisco and plan to head there and explore that area with my WK2 Grand Cherokee — she is mostly stock with larger A/T tires, stock suspension, but I’ve taken her places that many Rubicon Wrangler guys don’t venture. The Grand Cherokee is very capable. And she’s much, much more comfortable.

Black Bear Pass is definitely on my list. The Steps don’t look too bad, and the views are spectacular. Yes I am fully aware that if you do something stupid, the force of gravity will pull you off of that mountain in a heartbeat. And I fully agree that those trails should be marked with signs saying DON’T BE STUPID OR WE WILL CHARGE YOU IF WE HAVE TO SAVE YOUR DUMB A$$.

I’d better get to Black Bear Pass soon before they close it!

It's not the steps that are the problem. It's the narrow road and being inches away from a thousand foot drop off. Black Bear Pass is widely considered to be the most dangerous off-road trail in the US. You had better be good. There is no margin of error there.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klDe8iNwwxs

[brightdoglover]

I hired a jeep and driver to go over Black Bear years ago. The driver said he'd done it hundreds of times but asked if he'd be okay with saying a prayer. I sure was! Can't imagine someone who was much less experienced driving it.

[Mike from back east]

Cloudy Dayz, IIRC from seeing that video before, the driver escaped relatively unharmed but his girlfriend got a broken neck. The violence of that roll-over is horrendous.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Bill and Elfie Tower and Friends doing Black Bear Pass

This video is a hoot!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr7N...nnel=BillTower

The torture was listening to the driver in the passenger seat.