PARK CITY, Utah (ABC4) — With a historic winter season now behind us, Utahns are showing much excitement as backroads around the state are being cleared — including the popular Guardsman Pass, which opened today for the summer.
For the first time since October 2022, the gates were pulled back to Guardsman Pass, as crews from the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) spent the last few days hard at work clearing and uncovering the long-awaited roadway.
“There’s a lot of folks that like to use Guardsman Pass and the other seasonal routes to get out there and explore everything that Utah has to offer, and there are other people that use it for their commute,” says John Gleason, spokesperson for UDOT.
Just last week, the roads leading through Guardsman Pass (SR 224) were completely engulfed with several feet of snow, giving UDOT plenty of work on top of their other initiatives on Utah’s thoroughfares, which includes flood mitigation and pothole repair. A photo tweeted by UDOT shows just how much snow there was and what it looks like now:
Now — while normally open during the Memorial Day weekend — Guardsman Pass is available for summer recreation, with other seasonal routes expected to follow suit.
According to a Facebook post made by UDOT yesterday, more roadways are poised to open in late June, like Monte Cristo, Alpine Loop, and Mirror Lake Highways.
Tom Adams, who spent the morning riding up Guardsman Pass, stated, “I spend a lot of time here in these canyons, whether rock-climbing or riding bikes, so it was nice to see the gates open…”
To view current and upcoming road openings, visit the UDOT website to learn more.
