Olympic National Park To Rehab Boulder Creek Area, Erase Creek Road

Olympic National Park officials have decided to removing what little remains of the Boulder Creek Road and convert the corridor to a hiking and stock trail. NPS photo.

The Boulder Creek Road in Olympic National Park soon will be no more. Park officials have made the decision to remove the remaining vestiges of the road and rehabilitate the corridor for hikers and stock travel and restore the Boulder Creek Campground.

It was almost a year ago that park officials raised the idea. When they first started talking about the rehabilitation work, it had been nearly three decades since you could drive your rig to the old Olympic Hot Springs Resort and automobile campground in Olympic. Though the road had served the public well for decades following its construction in the early 1900s, continued problems with slope failure and erosion prompted the decision to close it to vehicle use. Since then the route has been open to hikers, both those content to stop in the Olympic Hot Springs area and for those determined to move farther into the park's wilderness.

Park officials had been considering various options on what to do with the crumbling road and deteriorating campground. The decision moving forward is to decommission the Boulder Creek Road to
improve access for hikers and stock users and improve protection of park resources. Key components of the project include removing asphalt from the old road, installing foot and stock animal bridges and improved stream crossings, reducing the width of the trail to between 24 and 30 inches, revegetating damaged campsites within the campground, and improving vehicle access at the trailhead, park officials say.

Now, this won't happen overnight. Indeed, park officials say sections of the Boulder Creek Trail and campground area will be closed to public access during the project. Most of the work will take place in 2011 and is scheduled to occur during removal of the Glines Canyon Dam so as to minimize the length of time that access must be restricted.

The Rehabilitate Boulder Creek Trail and Campground FONSI and EA may be reviewed online by selecting Olympic National Park at the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website, http://parkplanning.nps.gov/olym. For more information or for a printed copy of the FONSI, you may call the park at 360-565-3004.