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Colorado Mountain Roads Open For Holiday Weekend

Rocky Mountain National Park

Some of Colorado's highest elevation roads are open in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Independence Pass to Aspen and Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park opened for the season Thursday.

The Aspen Times reports that road crews took advantage of light snow on Independence Pass this year to repave and patch portions of the road during the winter closure.

Crews began plowing Trail Ridge in mid-April. Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson says they encountered average to below average snowpack and found drifts between 10 and 20 feet high in some locations, similar to past years.

The road is the highest continuous paved road in the United States and reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet (3,713 meters).

On Friday the Mount Evans Highway is also set to open to traffic.

Copyright 2018 Associated Press. All rights reserved.