As wildfires continue to rampage throughout the West, local areas are adopting tougher fire restrictions. As of Friday, the San Juan National Forest as well as Mesa Verde National Park and Yucca House National Monument have moved to Stage 2 restrictions. Those include bans on campfires. The Southeast Utah national parks and monuments group, which includes Arches, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, and Hovenweep, adopted the tougher rules as of August 1. The Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest has also closed an area in the vicinity of the Stoner Mesa fire, which is burning about eight miles west of Rico. Public access is now closed to all lands within the area. San Juan Forest recreation staff officer Tom Rice said in a video that the closure includes popular trails such as Calico, Stoner Mesa, and Priest Gulch, but many other areas remain open, including Boggy Draw, the Lizard Head Wilderness, and the Colorado Trail. The Stoner Mesa fire has grown to more than 1,100 acres with zero percent containment and is expected to continue burning for a long time.
For more information, see https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/sanjuan/fire/info
https://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/news/08-08-2025-fire-restrictions.htm
The press release about the forest closure is below:
For the safety of firefighters and the public, the San Juan National Forest Dolores Ranger District has implemented a fire area closure in the vicinity of the Stoner Mesa Fire, approximately twenty miles northeast of Dolores and eight miles west of Rico, CO. Find the full closure order and map here. The closure restricts public access of all lands within the described area (see map), including the following roads and trails:
The entirety of NFS Roads 545, 201, 547, 555, 692, 592 and 545J (Taylor Mesa Roads); NFS Road 686 and 875 (Stoner Mesa Roads).
NFS Trails 738 (Loading Pen), 201, 211 (Calico), 645 (Priest Gulch) 624 (Stoner Mesa), 739 (West Twin Springs), 741(East Twin Springs), 625 (Stoner Creek), 620 (Eagle Peak), 639 (Johnny Bull), 646 (East Fall Creek) and 640 (West Fall Creek).
Violations of the closure order are punishable as a Class B misdemeanor by a fine of not more than $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
For updated information on the Stoner Mesa Fire, visit the Stoner Mesa Fire InciWeb page or Facebook Page. You can also call (702) 421-5275 with specific questions
For information on the San Juan National Forest, call (970) 247-4874, visit the forest website, or follow us on social media (X and Facebook).
The boat ramp at Narraguinnep Reservoir will be closed beginning August 11 so that repairs can be made to the dam. In a press release, the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company said the job will include work surrounding the rock outcropping between the boat ramp and dam, and installation of drains on the downstream side of the dam. It is expected to be completed by early December.
