Old Fall River Road Shuts to Cars October 6, and You Should Have Driven It

1920. Rocky Mountain National Park. Cars are still a novelty, and somebody decides to carve a road straight up into the high country where no automobile has ever gone.

That road is Old Fall River Road, and on October 6, 2026, the gate swings shut on it for the season.

The park made the call official on September 29. So if you were planning to point your car up this thing before winter, the window is basically closed. And here is the part people miss. This is not just another mountain road closure you scroll past. This is the first route built for automobiles to climb into the high terrain of Rocky Mountain National Park, period. It opened in 1920. More than a century later it still runs.

What this road actually is

Eleven miles. One way. Up only.

You start low and you climb to 11,796 feet before the thing dumps you out at Trail Ridge Road. And most of it is gravel. Not polished, not widened into a four-lane cruise. Gravel.

People describe it as a drivable nature trail, and honestly that is the most accurate way to put it. It is slower, rougher, and way more remote than Trail Ridge Road, which is the smooth paved famous one everybody knows. Old Fall River Road is the one your grandparents would have white-knuckled in a Model T. The experience has not changed all that much, which is sort of the whole point.

I mean, think about what that means. You are driving a route laid down in 1920, in the same direction, up the same switchbacks, to the same 11,796-foot payoff. There are not many places in Colorado where the history is the road itself. Usually the old stuff is a plaque or a museum or a crumbling foundation behind a fence. Here you get to drive the artifact.

The October calendar is a little confusing, so here it is straight

The dates on this closure bounce around, so let me lay them out so you do not show up on the wrong day.

October 6 is the hard stop for cars. That is also the stop for cyclists and pedestrians. Everybody off.

But then it reopens. From October 10 through October 12, the road comes back for cyclists and pedestrians only, after the park runs some maintenance on it. So no cars, but you can get up there on foot or on two wheels for that stretch.

Then it closes again starting October 13.

And then, by October 17, it reopens for the winter season to bicycles, pedestrians, and leashed pets. So you and the dog can walk it all winter. Just not drive it.

So to recap the quick version. Cars are done October 6 until next year. Foot and bike traffic gets a weird little three-day window October 10 through 12, goes dark again on the 13th, and then opens back up for good on the 17th for the cold months. Buckle up for the scheduling, basically.

If you still want the high country drive

Here is the thing. Losing Old Fall River Road to cars does not mean you are shut out of the high country.

Trail Ridge Road is still your alternative until both roads come back next year. That is the paved one that tops out even higher and gives you the big sweeping views without the gravel and the one-way commitment. It is the easier drive. It is also the one everybody and their cousin is on, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

The two roads are kind of a package deal in my head. Trail Ridge is the greatest hits album. Old Fall River is the deep cut, the one you brag about driving. And right now the deep cut is going offline for the winter.

Why this is worth your attention

Look, Colorado hands you a lot of ways to get up high. Most of them are paved, crowded, and designed to move people fast. Old Fall River Road is the opposite of that, and it has been the opposite of that since 1920. It survives because somebody decided a slow gravel climb through the trees was worth keeping exactly as it was.

That is rare. And seasonal closures like this one are a good reminder that access to this stuff is not permanent. The gate closes. The snow comes. You wait until next year.

So if you are reading this before October 6 and you have never taken the drive, that is your sign. Pack a jacket because 11,796 feet gets cold fast even when Denver is sitting in the 70s. Hayley and I never do that drive without layers and a thermos, and we still end up underdressed every single time.

And if you miss the car window entirely, do not write it off. Grab the dog on October 17 or after and walk a piece of 1920s Colorado with snow on the ground. Different trip, same road, same history under your boots.

Either way, the clock is running.