Fall River Road

The Old Fall River Road, sometimes referred to as "The Old Road" by park staff in Rocky Mountain National Park, was the first automobile road to penetrate the interior of the park. The road linked the east side of the park near Estes Park with Grand Lake on the west side. Work began in 1913 but was interrupted in 1914 by World War I with final work being completed between 1918 and 1920.[2]

Old Fall River Road
Fall River Road
Nearest cityEstes Park, Colorado
Coordinates40°25′47″N 105°42′43″W
Built1913–1920
Architectunknown
MPSRocky Mountain National Park MRA
NRHP reference No.87001129[1] (original)
100002416 (increase)
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 20, 1987
Boundary increaseMay 21, 2018

The narrow road was partly replaced by Trail Ridge Road in 1932, which incorporated sections of the Fall River Road. The road runs westward from Sheep Lakes to the Alpine Visitor Center.[3] A rockslide closed the road in 1953 and it was not re-opened until 1968 when the National Park Service cleared the rocks and paved the lower third of the route.[2] Both the one-way Old Fall River Road and the paved Trail Ridge Road are maintained and open to motor vehicles from Memorial Day weekend through the first major autumn snowstorm. Both roads are also open to bicycles from April 1 through November 30, but are not patrolled in the pre- and post-season times.[4] Old Fall River Road may be closed for a time to all uses for maintenance.[5]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Rocky Mountain National Park MRA
  3. "Fall River Road". List of Classified Structures. National Park Service. 2009-01-10. Archived from the original on 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  4. "Bicycling - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  5. "Current Conditions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 4 August 2018.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.