Portions of hillsides soaked by up to 52 inches of snow from last week’s snowstorm gave way Sunday, sending mud and rocks onto three highways and forcing their closures along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains.
No injuries or damage were reported in rock slides that shut down highways that included U.S. 34, the main highway to Rocky Mountain National Park, about 11 miles east of Estes Park. The Colorado Department of Transportation also reported other slides on U.S. 285 at Kenosha Pass, about 45 miles southwest of Denver, and the lesser traveled Colorado 7 between Jamestown and Lyons, about 15 miles southeast of Estes Park.
U.S. 34 and U.S. 285 were reopened about an hour after the slides happened, while Colorado 7 remained closed late Sunday.
Rock slides are common in Colorado as the weather warms up in the spring, but Friday’s snowstorm helped loosen sediment on hillsides, said CDOT spokeswoman Mindy Crane.
“It’s just a tremendous amount of moisture followed by warm temperatures (Sunday),” Crane said.
