Here it is late October and we're still planning our fishing around wildfires. Up in northern Colorado I've been cornered. I was planning on taking some trips up to the North Park since my Poudre Canyon trips were out of the question beginning mid-August. Well, the Mullen fire took care of that by closing the route through Laramie - I don't need to go so bad that I'd reroute through Denver. Now it looks like that WY route is back open. Then the Big Thompson Canyon and the Lyons started taking the heat. So I've focused on places closer-to-home and been on Horsetooth a few times. Now all the Larimer County Parks are closed. Time for another update.
This info is current as of
10/21/20 10/22/20. Let's hope the cold front moving in takes care of a lot of this mess! My heart goes out to all those effected by these fires, all those fighting them, and all those assisting.
Calwood Fire:
https://bit.ly/35mJMsA Another good map showing perimeter and closures. Route 7 west of Lyons is closed. 36 north of Boulder to Lyons is closed. See also the
Calwood Fire Facebook page. The closures include the closely associated Lefthand Fire.
Notable fisheries, routes, and areas that are closed or impacted by the current wildfires...
Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest Closure map:
https://bit.ly/37GIVpx The area is expansive. If you plan to go fishing up west of the northern front range, you better check this map and the USFS information. Also see
this press release for more. Their
Facebook page has a lot of updates.
Medicine Bow NF Closure: South of 130 in WY to the Colorado state border and a bit south towards Cowdrey is closed: See map here:
https://bit.ly/3m7AFmg
State Forest State Park is partially open. Per notice at
https://bit.ly/35iPc80, "Access on 14 is open through Walden - local traffic (around barricade - [State Forest State Park] is considered local traffic)." "[These are] closed until further notice - no access: Crags Campground, Lake Agnes, American Lakes , Michigan Ditch, [and more]."
Grand Lake and Granby Area: As of late evening 10/21/20, Road 34 north of 40 from Granby is closed from mile marker 2 up north to the RMNP, allowing southbound traffic only for evacuation. That means
Lake Granby,
Shadow Mtn Reservoir and
Grand Lake (as well as sections of the
Colorado River) are not accessible. Also, Hwy 40 is closed to aid firefighters west of Granby to Hot Sulphur Springs, so don't expect to be able to travel through that area. See note about Willow Crk Res below.
Estes Park Area: As of 10/22/20 around 1:00pm all roads into Estes park are closed to allow evacuation out of that area. That means the
Big Thompson River in the canyon and in Estes Park and
Estes Lake,
Mary's Lake, and
Lily Lake - among all the other fisheries up that way - are currently closed.
Horsetooth, Pinewood, and Flatiron Reservoirs: As of 10/23/2020 Horsetooth Res is open to boating, and Pinewood Res is open. Flatiron Res remains closed for a road project til the 30th.
As of 10/17/20 these are closed to all activity because of the Cameron Peak Wildfire which has been working its way south.
Walden Area: Colorado Hwy 14 is open as of 10/24/20 just before 9am, but CDOT is urging travelers not to use the route unless necessary, adding "
All forest areas accessible from CO 14 are closed now due to the fire danger." See
https://bit.ly/34no7RI for more.
Colorado Hwy 14 (Poudre Canyon) is closed between Walden and Stove Prairie Road, plus Hwy 125 over Willow Creek Pass from Granby heading north is closed, so that will limit your travel options to this area. The good news is that it looks like WY Hwy 230 and CO Hwy 127 are open per the Facebook Page posted 10/21/20 for the Mullen Fire: "As a reminder, there are no closures to Wyoming State Hwy 230 or Colorado State Highway 127 due to the Mullen Fire. Wyoming State Highway 230 is open between Laramie and the Colorado border, and Colorado State Highway 127 is open from the Wyoming border to the Hwy 127/125 intersection (north of Cowdrey and Walden)." that means
North Delaney,
South Delaney,
East Delaney,
Lake John, andall those other lakes and rivers around there are accessible, even if the most direct route for you is not open.
Willow Creek Res: Looks to be in the USFS closure for the East Troublesome Fire area.
In Wyoming: It looks like
Rob Roy Res and
Lake Owen are in the middle of it and inaccessible due to the Mullen Fire.
There is a lot of fishing effected in these fire areas. My head is spinning. Too much to cover here! If you think we should add something to this information please
contact me or add in the comments below.
Hopefully a lot will be changing soon, let's hope these closures change in the next few days.
