Two weeks after mudslides closed off State Route 706 just beyond Mount Rainier National Park's Nisqually Entrance, the road has reopened and the park entrance has reopened/WSDOT file
Two weeks after mudslides and undercut roads forced the closure of Mount Rainier National Park, the main entrance reopened Monday.
The Nisqually Entrance had been blocked by slides across State Route 706 east of Ashford, Washington. As is normal during the winter, access from Longmire to Paradise is closed nightly and timing of the reopening each morning is dependent upon local conditions.
Services currently available in Longmire include access to snow-covered trails, the Longmire Museum and Visitor Center, and limited food, beverage, and retail items at the Longmire Gift Shop.
During the extended closure of the park’s entrance on SR 706, National Park Service employees have worked with the U.S. Forest Service, Washington State Department of Transportation, and Pierce County to support needs of park neighbors, and ensure availability of emergency access routes. In addition, park staff and Rainier Guest Services staff repaired damaged park infrastructure and utilities and maintained systems inside the park that are critical to public access. The park road crew also repaired the primary entrance road, which had been undermined by excessive runoff.
Elsewhere in the park, access to the Carbon River area remains blocked due to a significant washout on Pierce County’s Fairfax Forest Reserve Road and loss of most of the park road adjacent to the Carbon River trailhead parking area.
Comments
USFS Copper Ck road 59 may be closed for years by impassable slides just down the valley from now repaired Goat Creek. This is the only access to the Glacier View Wilderness adjacent to Mount Rainier's SW boundary:
https://www.highwayshopper.com/WPSX09.html
That's a shame. I've been back to the Glacier View Wilderness a number of years ago. Tried to reach Helen Lake to the north of West Lake but it's way too timbered and remote back there. Wildflowers are beautiful in the summer in the Glacier View. Truly God's country. There are logging roads to the north and west of Glacier View but you need a 4WD high clearance vehicle to access. Way to easy to get lost on those logging roads, I wouldn't try it. Hope FS manages to reopen road in years to come.