The upper portion of County Road 5 will stay gated to the general public through the winter, as the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld a settlement between Ouray County and private landowners on the road despite a challenge from San Juan Hut Systems owners Joe and Kelly Ryan.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court released a 25-page ruling on Feb. 2 partially dismissing the Ryans’ appeal of the settlement in Ouray County District Court, where a judge allowed a group of landowners to have a ...