OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Olympic Hot Springs Road has been reopened above the Altair Campground after three years of closure.
Olympic National Park announced Friday that the road had been reopened.
It had been closed at the gate just above Altair Campground while contractor crews removed Glines Canyon Dam.
Visitors may now reach the Boulder Creek Trailhead.
The trailhead provides hiker and stock-user access to the Olympic Hot Springs Trail, a 2.5-mile hike from the trailhead.
Glines Canyon overlook
“Access to the Glines Canyon overlook and former Lake Mills will continue to be available only from the Whiskey Bend Road,” said Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum.
“Additional work needs to be done before we can safely open the [other] viewpoint and old boat launch, so while the Olympic Hot Springs Road itself is open, the parking area at Glines Canyon is closed,” she added.
An overlook on the east side of Glines Canyon was opened two weeks ago. It includes 10 parking spaces.
The west-side overlook is expected to be opened next spring at the earliest, after fencing and other protective measures are installed and the parking area completed.
Hot springs
The Olympic Hot Springs Trail is also open.
“Extensive restoration work has been done in Olympic Hot Springs area while the road has been closed,” Creachbaum said.
“Visitors are reminded to camp only in designated campsites and to avoid stepping on plants when using the area.”
Park officials also said they want to remind visitors that marijuana use is prohibited on federal lands, including the park.
Before hiking, visitors are urged to check trail conditions at http://tinyurl.com/pdn-parktrails, phone the Wilderness Information Center at 360-565-3100 or drop by park visitor center at 3002 Mount Angeles Road, Port Angeles.
Hikers should be prepared for ice, snow and slippery conditions, park officials said.
The park prohibits open fires in the Olympic Hot Springs area, including the Boulder Creek Campground.
Crystal Creek
The Crystal Creek Bridge is closed to all travel due to extensive rock slide damage, but Crystal Creek can be crossed via a foot log.
Hikers are urged to use caution since the foot log is often icy at this time of year.
The east-side parking area and viewpoint at Glines Canyon can be reached by following the gravel Whiskey Bend Road about 1 mile south from its intersection with 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 serve as observation points.
The 108-foot Elwha Dam, 5 miles from the river’s mouth, was removed in March 2012.
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.
