New Reservation System Crashes At Mount Evans.. Now What?

The Mount Evans Road from Echo Lake to the summit of the famous Front Range fourteener is scheduled to open for the summer today (Friday, June 4) - but there's been quite a glitch in the system; a website that was supposed to newly begin taking reservations earlier this week failed to launch.

On Wednesday (June 2), the date in which the new reservation system to visit Mount Evans was supposed to launch, Reid Armstrong, public affairs specialist for the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, shared that the reservation system had failed to launch, and a new launch time was to be announced later that day.

“A new launch time will be announced this afternoon in advance of the actual relaunch", Armstrong said, according to the Greeley Tribune.

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For the first time, reservations are being required at Mount Evans as a strategy to manage traffic load on the 14-mile road, which spans more than 3,600 feet in elevation.

As of Wednesday, an announcement made on Recreation.gov, the site where visitors make reservations for Mount Evans, Brainard Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park, stated that advanced reservations were delayed.

“Due to technical difficulties, advanced reservations for Mount Evans are delayed,” according to a notice posted on the Recreation.gov website. “We are working diligently to correct the problem. Please check back for status updates. We will give advanced notice this afternoon to announce when these tickets will go on sale.”

By Friday morning (June 4), it seemed that the reservation system via Recreation.gov is now up and running. You can book your reservation now by clicking here.

CDOT crews began clearing snow from Mount Evans - the highest paved road in North America - on May 17, but had to re-plow this week because significant snowfall the mountain received over the weekend. CDOT says the road will open on Friday (June 4) unless it receives more snow.