Several popular mountain roads in Northeastern Oregon have opened as the prodigious winter snowpack continues to shrink.

The Wallowa Mountain Loop Road — also known as Forest Road 39 on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest — has opened, said Dan Story, road manager for the forest’s Whitman District.

That paved two-lane road runs along the east side of the Wallowa Mountains and connects Highway 86 east of Halfway with Highway 350 east of Joseph. The road also accesses a side route to the Hells Canyon Overlook.

Other paved routes that are accessible include Forest Road 51, along the upper Grande Ronde River south of Starkey, and sections of two national forest byways — Elkhorn Drive (Forest Road 73) from Granite to the North Fork of the John Day River; and the Blue Mountain Byway (Forest Road 52) from the North Fork John Day to Ukiah.

The entire Elkhorn Drive is not open, however.

As is usual in late May, snow still blocks several miles of the road from near Anthony Lakes to the lower Crawfish Trailhead area.

As of May 29, there were snowdrifts 3 feet and deeper around Anthony Lake, which was iced over except for a few small sections near shore.

Some routes to Forest Road 77, the Eagle Creek Road, are open while at least one is not, Story said.

Eagle Creek is accessible from the south, via Forshey Meadow, Empire Gulch and Torchlight Springs, and from New Bridge, and from the east, via McBride Campground.

One main route from the west, starting at Catherine Creek Summit along Highway 203, is still blocked by snow in the Taylor Green area, Story said.

He hasn’t confirmed whether or not another westside route to Eagle Creek, via Big Creek and Forest Road 67, is open.

Forest Road 43, the Ladd Canyon Road, is open from Interstate 84 for more than a dozen miles to the High Summit Spring area, but snow continues to block the upper elevations of that route, which ends near Grande Ronde Lake.

In Wallowa County, Forest Road 46 north of Enterprise is open, Story said.