Mount Blue Sky reopening Memorial Day, Denver takes over summit management

Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway is set to reopen on Memorial Day weekend, and the biggest change for drivers will be at the top: Denver is taking over the welcome station, the summit area and Mount Goliath Natural Area under a new operating agreement.

The reopening follows a closure that began Sept. 3, 2024, and ran through spring 2026 to both motorized and non-motorized travel along the summit road. The repair work, led through the Federal Highway Administration’s Federal Lands Access Program, has focused on roadway damage from the Summit Lake overflow parking lot to the first switchback past Summit Lake. The Forest Service says the byway climbs more than 7,000 feet in 28 miles to 14,130 feet, making it the highest paved road in North America.

For visitors, the practical change is as important as the pavement work. Denver park rangers will now have authority in the summit-area zones, and the Denver Mountain Parks Foundation will play a central operational role under a permit structure that runs through Dec. 31, 2029. The U.S. Forest Service will still keep a presence on the mountain and receive part of the entry-fee revenue, so the experience is not becoming a city-only operation. It is becoming a more shared system, with Denver handling more of the daily logistics where travelers actually show up.

That matters because Mount Blue Sky is already one of the most heavily used high-country outings in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. More than 45,000 vehicles booked timed-entry reservations during the 2024 season, a sign of how hard it is to get a spontaneous summer drive up the mountain. The new setup should keep the route firmly in managed, reservation-driven territory rather than turning it into an open, first-come scramble.

The road closure did not shut down the broader alpine area. Echo Lake Park, Echo Lake Campground, Chicago Lakes Trail, Captain Mountain Trail, Chief Mountain Trail, Resthouse Meadows Trail and the Bierstadt Trailhead remained open during construction, giving hikers alternatives while the summit road was out. That also helped keep access alive for one of the area’s biggest draws: the short-but-serious summit hike that starts near Summit Lake and offers a much quicker route toward a fourteener than many other approaches.

The mountain itself is still carrying its newer name, Mount Blue Sky, adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names in September 2023 after requests from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and approval from Gov. Jared Polis. The old Mount Evans name, tied to John Evans and the Sand Creek legacy, is now part of the history, while the reopening pushes the road into a new era of access, staffing and summit management.