Colorful leaves of the mountain aspens draw thousands of people from around the world and across the country to Colorado to witness nature in its splendor, and Guanella Pass in Georgetown is its epitome, according to several visitors to the pass in recent years.
The Clear Creek Sheriff's Department is again anticipating an onslaught of people and vehicles this year who want to travel the pass.
To keep traffic moving during the leaf-peeping season this year, the sheriff's department has placed no-parking signs along the 24-mile road and will be enforcing the parking restrictions. Violators face getting an $87.50 ticket for non-compliance, according to Clear Creek Sheriff Capt. Eric Rubin.
"As leaf peeping heats up, I think the line of vehicles would overwhelm the parking areas very quickly," Rubin said.
"There is no parking on the roadway whatsoever. The areas that don't have signs, you would have to get your vehicle off the road completely. You cannot have your tires touching the road and if you do, that's a violation," according to Rubin.
This year's enforcement on parking is in response to an overflow crowd up the pass during the 2024 peeping season, when so many cars were parked on or beside the road that emergency vehicles and personnel could not make it to the scene of an emergency call on the pass.
"All it takes is one person obstructing the roadway to cause a chain, morphing into that unsafe zone where emergency vehicles can't get by," Rubin said. "If it's posted, you can't park there at all. If there is signage, don't do it."
Already this year, deputies have issued more than 100 parking tickets for violations along the pass, according to the sheriff's department.
A former burro trail, the now-paved Guanella Pass scenic byway is 24 miles of picturesque views and climbs to above treeline, according to a statement from Clear Creek Road and Bridges.
Visitors can see multiple mountain peaks, including Mt. Bierstadt, Mt. Blue Sky, and Argentine Pass. The pass road is completely paved from Georgetown in Clear Creek County to Grant (Hwy 285) in Park County, the statement continues.
According to the U.S. Forestry Service, trees at altitude, especially the aspens, begin a natural cycle in which chlorophyll production slows and eventually stops. Chlorophyll is the pigment that gives leaves their green color, so when it breaks down, the green color disappears.
"The overall message I want to get across is "keep traffic moving," Rubin concluded.
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