Campground, trail and road closures in Olympic National Park were announced this week in advance of construction-related traffic as the park prepares for the Sept. 17 start-up of dam removals on the Elwha River.
Whiskey Bend Road, a popular 4.5-mile gravel thoroughfare, will remain closed to motor vehicles through September to repair mudslide damage.
In addition, short-term road closures may be imposed on Olympic Hot Springs Road while the “Fisherman’s Corner” area one mile south of the Madison Falls trailhead is repaired.
And after Aug. 1, Olympic Hot Springs Road, which leads to Glines Canyon Dam, will be closed to all public entry just south of Altair Campground to allow the dam-removal contractor to prepare for the beginning of removal Sept. 17.
Glines Canyon Dam and the Elwha Dam will be torn down simultaneously by September 2014 to restore the river’s salmon run as part of the $325 million Elwha River Restoration Project.
Specific construction time line details and dam-removal methods that will be employed by Barnard Construction Co. of Missoula, Mont., are not yet available, Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said Thursday.
“The removal process for each dam will be different,” she added.
Here’s a list of closures and other impacts related to removal of the dams:
Olympic Hot Springs
Dates for short-term closures of the road are not yet available, Maynes said.
Other than those possible closures — which are associated with repairs at Fisherman’s Corner — Olympic Hot Springs Road is open and will remain open for travel through July 31.
The Elwha entrance station is being relocated on a small bypass to allow construction traffic to travel around the entrance station unimpeded.
Construction of the new entrance station access lane and location is under way this week.
The area is flagged, and short delays are possible through today.
The entrance station will be relocated by mid-May.
Elwha Valley campgrounds
The Altair campground will be open this summer from May 24 through Sept. 6.
The Elwha campground will remain open year-round, according to its regular schedule.
Elwha Valley trails
The trail between Humes Ranch and the Dodger Point bridge has extensive damage and is impassible at this time.
More information and trail condition reports, as available, are posted at the park’s website, www.nps.gov/olym.
After Olympic Hot Springs Road closes Aug. 1 south of Altair, there will be no access to the Appleton Pass trailhead or Olympic Hot Springs from the Elwha Valley.
Olympic Hot Springs may still be reached by hiking 14 miles from Sol Duc Valley.
Whiskey Bend Road
The road was extensively damaged by a Dec. 12 mudslide but remains open for pedestrians, bicyclists and horse enthusiasts.
“We understand the popularity of this road as a trailhead access and as a viewpoint for the Glines Canyon Dam, but damage to the road has made it unsafe for vehicle travel,” Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin said in a statement.
The most severe damage is just under the road’s surface at mile post 1.
The road’s downhill side is a near-vertical slope that drops 500 feet to the Elwha River.
The road was built in the 1930s prior to the park’s establishment in 1938.
The damaged areas are marked.
Hikers, cyclists and stock users are urged to walk rather than ride on the inside road shoulder in the vicinity of the slides.
Hikers traveling north from the Quinault Valley may still exit via the Whiskey Bend trailhead and road.
For more information about visiting the park, visit www.nps.gov/olym.
Information is also available by calling the park Wilderness Information Center at 360-565-3100.
More information about the Elwha River Restoration Project is available at www.nps.gov/olym or on Facebook at “Elwha River Restoration.”
