The Cascades Lakes Highway will not be open by the Memorial Day weekend due to the large amount of snow accumulation over the winter.

The Deschutes County Road Department said Friday that the new target date top open is the week of June 4.

The road department said the section of the highway around Devil’s Lake remains impassable because of snow. A portion of the highway, accessed via South Century Drive (FS 42), will open May 25, when the snow gate at Lava Lake will be opened. But a new snow gate will block passage at Elk Lake.

The 66-mile drive is a popular summer trip. It passes through volcanic landscapes used by NASA to train astronauts for the Apollo mission to the moon.

Astronaut Jim Irwin of the Apollo 15 mission in 1971 placed an earth rock from a volcanic dome near Devils Lake on the lunar surface. It’s the only earth rock on the moon.

For more information, call 541-388-6581 or visit: https://www.deschutes.org/road/page/news-info-and-closures.