Rampart Range Road
Forest Service Road 300 runs north from Garden of the Gods along the Rampart Range, and the Forest Service counts it among the most highly used roads on Pike National Forest — off-highway riders, campers at designated sites and sightseers, through a season of use that runs from mid-May to December 1. Near Rampart Reservoir the forest describes it as a rough, rutted, washboard dirt road with a 20 mph limit. Its closing day is written into a forest order, and in spring the forest reopens it when conditions on the ground allow, which can take until late May.
This year
Live plow-season reports load here. For today's conditions, go straight to Pike National Forest's status page.
Conditions change by the hour at 9,200 feet — check Pike National Forest's status page before you drive.
The record
The Forest Service's target for reopening is April 1, but it says weather can delay the opening until late May. The south end's winter order runs through 11:59 PM on April 1, and a mud-season order is in effect on the recreation area's roads and trails from April 1 to May 31.
Why there is no year-by-year table. The Forest Service publishes this road's season as a rule — the order's dates and a spring target — and publishes no year-by-year list of the days the gates actually closed and opened, so there is no table of past seasons to print. The current order took effect on December 1, 2022, superseding any earlier order for the same road, and runs each winter through April 1, 2027 unless the forest rescinds it. Whether a new order replaces it after that is the forest's call.
Every date and rule on this page is from Pike National Forest's own publications: Forest Order 02-12-09-22-18 (PDF) · Rampart Range Road 300 winter closure alert · Rampart Range Recreation Area · Flat Rocks Campground · Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area · Rampart Range Fuel Break Project release, February 10, 2026. Last checked September 23, 2026.
When does Rampart Range Road close?
Closes to motor vehicles by December 1 every year. On the south end the day is fixed by forest order: from 12:01 AM on December 1, using any motor vehicle on the road is prohibited. The winter closure covers Forest Service Road 300 from the gate in Garden of the Gods to its junction with Forest Service Road 306, the Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area road, which is the stretch Forest Order 02-12-09-22-18 describes; farther north, the forest's pages for the Rampart Range Recreation Area say the road and the recreation area's roads close by December 1 too.
That closing day is set in writing by Pike National Forest, not read off past autumns. Pike National Forest's own page has the state of the gate.
Rampart Range Road: opening and closing questions
- When does Rampart Range Road close for the winter?
- Closes to motor vehicles by December 1 every year. On the south end the day is fixed by forest order: from 12:01 AM on December 1, using any motor vehicle on the road is prohibited. The winter closure covers Forest Service Road 300 from the gate in Garden of the Gods to its junction with Forest Service Road 306, the Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area road, which is the stretch Forest Order 02-12-09-22-18 describes; farther north, the forest's pages for the Rampart Range Recreation Area say the road and the recreation area's roads close by December 1 too.
- Can you drive Rampart Range Road in winter?
- No. From 12:01 AM on December 1 through 11:59 PM on April 1, Forest Order 02-12-09-22-18 prohibits using any motor vehicle on the road between the Garden of the Gods gate and the Rampart Reservoir road. The only people exempt are holders of a Forest Service permit that specifically exempts them, and officers, rescue crews and firefighters on duty. A violation is a Class B misdemeanor: a fine of up to $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, up to six months in jail, or both. Farther north, the Forest Service says the road stays closed throughout the winter. Through April, expect truck traffic: the forest's fuel-break thinning along the road, under way since January 2026, is restricted to December through April each year, and small areas of forest beside it may be closed while crews work.
- Is Rampart Range Road open right now?
- This page is the season record, not the road's condition this morning. USDA Forest Service — Pike-San Isabel National Forests publishes today's state of the road, and that is the one to check before you drive — conditions turn over in hours at this elevation.
- When does Rampart Range Road open again?
- The Forest Service's target for reopening is April 1, but it says weather can delay the opening until late May. The south end's winter order runs through 11:59 PM on April 1, and a mud-season order is in effect on the recreation area's roads and trails from April 1 to May 31.