Lower section will remain open until Oct. 7, depending on weather conditions. 

When Labor Day ends three things happen: people are super bummed the last of the summer holidays has passed, meteorological fall begins, and the top 5-mile stretch of road to the summit of Mount Evans closes for the season.

It may feel a little premature to pack the Mount Evans mountain goats away for the winter (kidding, kidding). However, the earliest snow recorded in Denver was Sept. 3, and it's not unheard of for our mountains to get dusted with the white stuff this time of year, so the highest paved road in North America has begun its annual shut down.

If it feels like a shorter high-country season than usual, you are not wrong. While the road to the summit usually opens around Memorial Day, this year's spring storms delayed opening until June 7.

If you missed your last chance to head up to the summit over the holiday weekend, the road from Echo Lake to Summit Lake will remain open until early October. Hopefully, conditions will hold long enough to get some leaf-peeping in later this fall. 

"CDOT closes the five-mile segment from Summit Lake to the top of Mount Evans (14,264 feet) the day after Labor Day, per agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. The remaining 10 miles, from Echo Lake (Colorado Highway 103) to Summit Lake, will remain open until Monday, October 7 unless adverse weather creates winter-like driving conditions," said the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in a release.

And, there's always next year. Highway 5 (Mount Evans Road) is scheduled to reopen for the 2020 summer season the Friday before Memorial Day, conditions permitting.

According to CDOT, information regarding the opening and closing of seasonal roads can be found at all times at cotrip.org. You can sign up for customized travel alerts via text and email on CDOT’s website. You can find more information about Mount Evans, at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/mountevans.

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