OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — One of the Glines Canyon overlooks is now open.
Olympic National park opened the overlook, which has 10 parking spaces, on Friday.
Visitors can see the Elwha River running free through the canyon and the bed of the former Lake Mills.
The parking area and viewpoint can be reached by following the gravel Whiskey Bend Road about one mile south from its intersection with the Olympic Hot Springs Road.
A 0.3-mile trail built by the Elwha revegetation crew leads from the parking area to the lakebed.
The last remnant of the once-210-foot Glines Canyon Dam, built 13 miles from the river’s mouth, was demolished Aug. 26.
Barnard Construction workers, who took down both the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams on the river in a $325 million restoration project that began in September 2011, finished clearing debris from the channel in late September this year.
Abutments on either side of Glines Canyon were left in place to eventually serve as observation points.
It is the east-side abutment, which was built in 1927 as part of Glines Canyon Dam, that has been opened.
The west-side abutment, which will be developed with an overlook area and interpretive signs detailing the restoration project, won’t be completed until spring at the earliest, said Barb Maynes, park spokeswoman.
But it may be possible to drive to it by the end of this month.
The west side will be accessed by driving to the top of Olympic Hot Springs Road.
The road is now closed at the gate just above Altair Campground.
Crews are making repairs and anticipate reopening the road to the Boulder Creek Trailhead by the end of this month.
The east-side overlook offers a glimpse into the history of the former dam, providing a view of the spillway and west abutment.
Revegetation crews reinforced the path to the lakebed with metal walkways.
Caution urged
The walkways can become slippery when wet, and visitors are urged to use care when walking on the path, Maynes said.
“The former lakebed is extremely dynamic, with rapidly shifting sediments,” said Sarah Creachbaum, park superintendent.
“People should stay at least 20 feet from the river and steep banks at all times.”
Creachbaum noted that the lakebed has been revegetated and asked that visitors avoid stepping on plants when exploring the lakebed.
Although Whiskey Bend Road and trailhead access are open now, the Glines Canyon parking area and former boat launch remain closed while park crews make improvements.
More details and a definite opening schedule will be released soon, Maynes said.
The Elwha River project is the largest dam removal and river restoration ever attempted in the U.S.
The 108-foot Elwha Dam, 5 miles from the river’s mouth, was removed in March 2012.
The Glines dam was included within Olympic National Park.
Both dams were built without fish ladders. Removal cleared the way for salmon and steelhead to swim upriver to spawn in some 70 miles of river habitat — including tributaries to the 40-mile river.
Fishing of any kind on the river remains prohibited under a five-year moratorium imposed in 2011 to allow its fisheries to recover from the release of sediment introduced by the dam removal.
