Roads around CR 200 newly designated as open to all traffic

Fourteen miles of previously closed roadway now available to access public lands

PRESS RELEASE
September 12, 2025

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Grand Junction Field Office has signed a decision declaring roughly 14 miles of unpaved road in the vicinity of Garfield County Road 200 as open to all modes of travel.

The roads, which had previously been considered open to administrative use only, pass through private property and allow access to more than 50,000 acres of BLM land that had previously been difficult to reach.

Four-wheel drive is recommended while using these primitive roads to access public lands. No trailers should be taken past the flag poles, as there are no spots to turn them around, and there will be no winter maintenance in these areas.

These roads had been the focus of a nine-year-long court battle between Garfield County and High Lonesome Ranch. Earlier this year, Garfield County successfully defended itself in the federal lawsuit, which centered around Revised Statute 2477 (RS 2477). The U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Colorado concluded that North Dry Fork west of the Y and Middle Dry Fork through the private land are public under RS 2477 and other legal theories.

RS 2477 grants counties and states rights-of-way over certain historic roads established before 1976. The access roads meet the mitigation requirements for motorized public access, according to the BLM’s 2015 record of decision in the Grand Junction Field Office’s travel management plan.