BRINNON — Olympic National Forest engineers have closed Mount Walker Lookout Road after it was reopened on Thursday following a landslide.
The landslide late Thursday morning temporarily blocked the road in the national forest for about four hours. The road was blocked about a mile from the parking area, but U.S. Highway 101 was not affected, according to a Brinnon Fire Department Facebook post at about 11 a.m. Thursday.
A tourist trapped on the other side of the landslide was rescued along with her car and reunited with her family in Quilcene.
The national forest said Friday in a Facebook post: “The Mount Walker road will remain closed due to unstable hillside. … The road to the Mount Walker viewpoint will be closed for safety. Our engineers believe more rock and debris could fall. If it is deemed safe prior to the seasonal closure, we will alert the public via FB and our website.”
Mt. Walker Viewpoint Road (Forest Service Road 2730) is a four-mile gravel road to the summit of Mount Walker (2,804 feet). It is the only peak facing Puget Sound that has a road to its summit, according to the U.S. National Forest Service’s website.
The road typically is closed for the season beginning Nov. 1 or earlier.
