This is an update to my post about our late October day trip over the McKenzie Pass Scenic Byway loop highway. The gate you see in this photo is now locked over the road, as is its twin gate on the other end of the 22-mile road.
McKENZIE BRIDGE — The Oregon Department of Transportation has closed Oregon 242, the Old McKenzie Pass Highway, for the winter after five days of early snowfall.
The closure was Tuesday. Because of maintenance problems the scenic highway is open only in summer and early fall.
Built in the 1930s, the twisty highway became a seasonal scenic highway in the 1960s with the completion of the Clear Lake-Belknap Springs cutoff. During the summer about 300 cars a day use the old highway.
Even as the main route between the southern Willamette Valley and central Oregon, the narrow, twisting roadway and high elevation made it too difficult to keep clear during winter.
The earliest reopening was March 21 in 1934 and the latest was July 29 in 1999.
