There’s good news and bad news related to the Interlaken Fire that’s burning about seven miles south of the Colorado mountain town of Leadville.
Good news first – the fire is reported to be 86 percent contained after burning 731 acres, with firefighting efforts trending in the right direction. Firefighters are working to improve the depth of containment lines and have been able to limit impacts in the immediate area around the historic buildings of Interlaken Resort.
And now the bad news – a problematic portion of the fire is in the area of the Colorado Trail to the lakeshore of the eastern Twin Lakes reservoir, where the fire remains “uncontrollable” per the most recent report. As a result, several key closures are in place with big weekends for outdoor recreation ahead.
The closure area includes the entirety of Twin Lakes Reservoir, along with a lot of the day use areas around it, including Moache, Red Rooster, Praying Angel, Big Mac, Deception Point, Dexter Point and Sunnyside, Cabin Cove, and Whistler Point, with several roads and trails also closed, perhaps most notably, the Colorado Trail that cuts around the southern portion of Twin Lakes.