18 seasonal closures · typical dates · live status on each pass page
Most mountain passes are plowed and stay open all winter. These 18 are not: each one is gated when the snow arrives and stays shut until spring. The windows below are typical patterns from past seasons. The agency that maintains each road sets the actual dates every year, so open a pass page for its live status.
Get Pass Checker on the App Store Get Pass Checker on Google PlayTypically closes: mid-November to early December
Typically reopens: April or May
WSDOT closes the highway between Ross Dam Trailhead and Silver Star gate once avalanche chutes above the road load with snow.
Typically closes: mid-November to early December
Typically reopens: April or May
Cayuse usually closes within days of Chinook Pass and reopens a few weeks ahead of it.
Typically closes: mid-November
Typically reopens: late May, usually by Memorial Day weekend
WSDOT closes the pass at Crystal Mountain Boulevard on the west side and Morse Creek on the east side.
Typically closes: early November, or sooner after the first heavy snow
Typically reopens: mid-to-late June
The narrow lava-field highway is not plowed in winter. Vehicles over 35 feet are prohibited all year.
Typically closes: November, with the first significant snowfall
Typically reopens: late May or June, later after heavy winters
The closure covers Tioga Road through Yosemite National Park, from Crane Flat to the Tioga Pass entrance.
Typically closes: November or December
Typically reopens: April, often the first Sierra pass to reopen
Monitor closes later and reopens earlier than Sonora, Ebbetts, and Tioga.
Typically closes: November or December
Typically reopens: May
Caltrans closes the pass east of Strawberry once snow makes the steep upper grades unsafe.
Typically closes: November or December
Typically reopens: May or June
The closure runs from Lake Alpine to the junction with CA 89.
Typically closes: around November 7, or earlier if snow arrives
Typically reopens: the Thursday before Memorial Day
CDOT gates the highway east of Aspen and west of Twin Lakes. Vehicles over 35 feet are prohibited all year.
Typically closes: mid-to-late October
Typically reopens: late May, around Memorial Day weekend
Rocky Mountain National Park closes the road between Many Parks Curve and the Colorado River Trailhead.
Typically closes: November
Typically reopens: late May, around Memorial Day
The Mirror Lake Highway is not plowed over the summit in winter and becomes a snowmobile route.
Typically closes: late November or December
Typically reopens: May
UDOT closes UT 39 over the summit between the Ogden Valley side and Woodruff.
Typically closes: late September or October, with the first snow
Typically reopens: around July 1
The gravel road over the summit closes. The paved road to Independence Mine on the Palmer side stays open in winter.
Typically closes: mid-October to mid-November, depending on snow
Typically reopens: mid-May
The Notch section between Stowe and Jeffersonville is not plowed. Tractor trailers are prohibited all year.
Typically closes: November
Typically reopens: May
The unpaved Notch section between Montgomery Center and Lowell is not maintained in winter.
Typically closes: November
Typically reopens: mid-May
The road through the White Mountain National Forest is gated and unplowed in winter.
Typically closes: with the first snow, usually by November
Typically reopens: around April 1
Custer State Park closes the highway and its narrow tunnels for the winter.
Typically closes: December 1
Typically reopens: June 15
This closure is fixed by date every year to protect wildlife winter range, regardless of snow.