“Rush Hour” Redefined: Thousands of Sheep Bring Traffic to a Halt on Colorado Highway
A routine drive turned into an unexpected rural spectacle for Kristin Clayburn and her mother on Friday morning when they encountered roughly 6,000 sheep crossing Highway 40 in northwest Colorado. While en route to Utah around 8 a.m., Clayburn was delayed about 20 minutes outside of Maybell as the massive flock, accompanied by rangers on each side, trotted across the road in a coordinated sheep drive.
Clayburn, who lives in nearby Craig, captured video of the wooly traffic jam, noting that such sights are fairly common in the region. Similar to cattle drives, sheep are regularly moved to new pastures to ensure healthy grazing and prevent overuse of the land. The peaceful procession, complete with a single black sheep amid the sea of white, was a quintessential scene of rural Colorado. As Clayburn put it, “That’s rural Colorado for you.”
