Red Mountain Pass reopened about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday after closing while crews recovered an unoccupied vehicle that fell off the side of the mountain three miles south of Ouray.
The unattended 2000 Mazda pickup rolled on its wheels 138 feet before coasting over the edge and falling 250 feet into the Uncompahgre River canyon on Friday. Red Mountain Pass is located between Silverton and Ouray.
The Colorado Department of Transportation did not know who owned the vehicle or why it was left unattended.
Tow crews used a rig in one lane to recover the vehicle from the bottom of the canyon, according to CDOT.
The car rolled over the edge near mile marker 89, close to where two other vehicles have taken the plunge this year.
A Cadillac Escalade driven by a visiting Danish man who went missing Feb. 4 was recovered Feb. 19. And an 18-year-old Texas man driving a 2005 Ford F-150 from El Paso to Grand Junction was killed when his vehicle ran off the highway in mid-April.
shane@durangoherald.com
