The Pikes Peak Ranger District has indefinitely closed a section of Road 320, beginning at the Mt. Herman and Red Rocks Drive turn-off, and ending at 320a, for public safety. The roadway suffered rockslides and washouts along the route. Photos posted by the group Friends o f Monument Preserve show several rock slides blocking at least half of the road width, along with images of much of the roadway washed out by runoff from recent heavy rain. 

Stephen Blackman, a visitor information specialist out of the Pikes Peak Ranger District said workers and engineers would need to survey and then repair damage done to several locations along that section of road, and that a timeline for those repairs wasn’t yet known. 

“It’s not a normal thing, the amount of rain we’ve been getting, ” Blackman said. 

He added that US Forest Service law enforcement was working with “several” individuals who had vehicles stuck in the area, due to the road damage.  

One photo shared on social media showed a blue SUV that had slid into a deep gully created in the middle of a dirt roadway by runoff. 

Blackman said the road closure was specifically targeted at motor vehicles, but that hikers and mountain bikers should be careful. 

“We are telling people if they go back that way to use caution and discretion on whether it’s safe for them,” he said. 

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