Yellowstone National Park has opened newly snow-cleared sections of road to bicycles already this spring before reopening the routes to motor vehicles.
Glacier National Park in Montana is clearing snow off roads and expects to open them to cyclists soon.
Meanwhile, snow removal crews, left, from the Washington Department of Transportation on Monday began running snow plows along the North Cascades Highway that cuts through the North Cascades National Park in preparation for opening the road with mile-high passes.
It's one of the rites of spring in the western states where snowfalls bury roads with some of the most spectacular scenery for several months out of the year.
Hazards
Although the routes may be open to bicycle traffic, they are by no means totally safe. Sheet ice and light snow may remain after the snowplows pass by, and high country weather conditions can change in an instant.
Also, while visitor motor traffic is prohibited in certain sections, snow plows and trucks will be using the roads for access to the parks.
Definitely check with the park for details.
Highway 20 is closed for the winter season between the Ross Lake Trailhead, milepost 134, and Silver Star Gate, milepost 171, due to avalanche danger.
State crews noticed lower than usual snow levels when they began plowing on Monday, and expect the highway to be reopened before last year's date of April 24.
As far as I can tell, bicycles aren't allowed access to these mountain passes before vehicular traffic.
Snow removal crews from the Washington Department of Transportation began running snow plows on approaches to the mile-high passes on Monday (more cool photos at WSDOT Clearing the North Cascades Highway at flickr.com). Keep an eye on the road conditions report, however, to be one of the first cyclists over 5,477-foot Washington Pass this spring.
Spring bicycling is open between West Yellowstone, Madison, Norris, and Mammoth Hot Springs without interference from visitors' vehicles, although maintenance crews are making use of some of these roads.
The park service warns that the weather is unpredictable, parts of the routes are unpaved, rouch and muddy, there are no services open in the parks interior, water is only available at one source, cell phone service is spotty, the cleared road may be covered with a thin layer of snow or ice and pullouts could be filled with snow, and snowplows could be working the routes.
If that sounds like your idea of an adventuresome ride, check Yellowstone's spring cycling website about how to proceed.
Snow plow crews also startd plowing the Going-to-the-Sun Road on Monday. As in Yellowstone, bicyclists can bicycle beyhond vehicle closures when crews are not working. Signs will be posted for early bicyclists and hikers.
Check the Glacier National Park press releases for details.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Once snow removal operations begin the first week of April, Old Fall River Road will be open to bicyclists during the spring maintenance schedule, which will be posted. Through the month of June, it's open to bicycles on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. Beginning in July, cars are added to the mix.
Roads open to bicycles beyond the gates during the winter are Upper Beaver Meadows Road, Moraine Park Campground, Endovalley Road, Aspenglen Campground, and High Drive.
All these details and updates are available at the Rocky Mountain website. Also, check out the comment below.
Grand Teton
The Adventure Cycling blog also mentions that snowplows already are clearing highways on Teton Park Road in the Grand Teton National Park.
The Carbon River Road into Mount Rainier National Park is open to bicycles and pedestrians only. No vehicles are permitted beyond the Ranger Station due road damage caused by the Carbon River. This road enters the extreme northern section of the park from Route 165 through Wilkeson.
10 best
If you're still in the mood for bicycling at the national parks, only a little later in the year, here's a guide to the 10 best National Parks for bicycling.
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