As Little Cottonwood Canyon reopens, UDOT urges continued caution
May 5, 2023, 10:30 PM | Updated: May 8, 2023, 4:46 pm
LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON —Utah Department of Transportation crews reopened SR-210 late Friday afternoon after cleaning up from the latest mudslide but warned people heading into the outdoors to be cautious, to not hang around slide areas and natural drainages and that the canyon could close again at any time.
🚧 #RoadClosureUpdate 🚧 #SR210 OPEN to all travel
Potential for naturally occurring mud/landslides exists. Extra safety measures in place during the day, reassessed on (5/8).
‼️12pm-6pm: spotter to stop traffic if hazard present
‼️6pm-12pm: no spotter, travel at own risk pic.twitter.com/cxp5aPK2gX
— UDOT Cottonwood Canyons (@UDOTcottonwoods) May 5, 2023
UDOT on its social media posts stated Friday evening that the potential for naturally-occurring mudslides and landslides still existed and that the department is closely monitoring daily to determine if and when road closures are needed.
“It’s Little Cottonwood Canyon—anything can happen, man,” UDOT south area supervisor Jake Brown said.
Brown further underscored the unpredictability of the canyon and said the area where mudslides had proven problematic this week wasn’t anywhere near the top of his list of likely candidates.
“If you would have asked me if I wanted to pick a spot I thought a mudslide would be, the spot (where) it happened didn’t even register,” Brown said.
This winter and spring, Brown said, had been unlike anything he had witnessed while working for UDOT.
He said crews remained on-call 24-7 and he urged people to be careful if they went up into Little Cottonwood in the days to come.
“People try to stop and get good footage and try to update Facebook or put it on Instagram,” Brown said. “You have no idea the type of debris that could come down and wipe out your car, disable your car in a second.”
Rock climber and trail runner Tanya Schoenmann was up in the canyon Friday and said while the numerous closures this spring had been “a little bit of a headache,” she remained wary and mindful of the forecasts and warnings.
“Yeah, we’re watching the weather every single day, just seeing what’s the precipitation going to be like and is the canyon open?” Schoenmann said.
She acknowledged when the conditions are bad in Little Cottonwood Canyon, there are numerous other areas to climb and recreate around the Wasatch Front.
Brown urged people not to chance it.
“Just the amount of what Mother Nature has dished out to us is amazing—it just shows we are not in charge and we do not control the canyon,” Brown said. “Be aware of natural drainages and things that could happen in the canyon. Be prepared.”
