Former Lake Mills area open to visitors

Published 12:01 am Friday, March 16, 2012

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Visitors now can wander through the wide delta that once was part of Lake Mills.

Whiskey Bend Road will be reopened to vehicles today, and the Upper Lake Mills Trail also is reopening, said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman.

Repairs on Whiskey Bend Road — made by Cherokee Construction of Vancouver, Wash. — originally were estimated to take four weeks and cost up to $190,000.

Instead, the project was completed two weeks early and at a total cost of $162,000, Maynes said.

This 4.5-mile gravel road connects the Elwha Valley’s Olympic Hot Springs Road to the Whiskey Bend trailhead.

The Upper Lake Mills Trail begins near the Whiskey Bend trailhead and once led to the southern end of the Lake Mills reservoir.

With 60 feet of the Glines Canyon Dam having been dismantled as part of the $350 million Elwha River Restoration Project, the reservoir is significantly smaller than it was, Maynes said.

The trail now provides foot access to the delta of gravels and sand that accumulated in that area.

The Upper Lake Mills Trail was closed just before the beginning of dam removal in September because of concerns that the exposed sediments would be unstable and unsafe for pedestrians.

“As the reservoirs have dropped, we’ve seen that the gravel sediments are more stable than anticipated,” said Olympic National Park Acting Superintendent Todd Suess.

“We’re very pleased to invite people to visit these newly exposed lands and see Elwha River Restoration firsthand.”

Visitors are urged to use caution when walking in the former reservoirs as there are steep banks and areas of deep mud.

People also are asked to avoid stepping on any plants, Maynes said.

More than 30,000 native plants were planted by revegetation crews this winter, and additional plants are “self-sowing,” Maynes said.

The south end of the former Lake Aldwell, which was created by the now-demolished Elwha Dam, has become a wide, gravelly delta and is open for foot travel only.

Vehicles are not allowed, Maynes said.

The Elwha River within both the Lake Aldwell and Lake Mills areas is closed to all boating, she added.

Submerged stumps, logs and boulders, along with ongoing construction work, present significant hazards, she said.

Foot access to the former Lake Aldwell is available by using the Lake Aldwell Road and turning north just west of the Elwha River bridge on U.S. Highway 101.

With the exception of the Upper Lake Mills Trail and upper Lake Mills delta, all areas west and downhill of Whiskey Bend Road are closed to public entry.

Olympic Hot Springs Road remains closed to all public access just south of the Altair campground.

The Glines Canyon Dam, Lake Mills Olympic Hot Springs and Boulder Creek trail and campground are not accessible past this point on Olympic Hot Springs Road.

The Lake Aldwell area north of the “gooseneck” is closed, as is the construction area around the former Elwha Dam.

Specific closure information and a map are available at http://tinyurl.com/6su5s3e.

Webcams of the dam removals are available through the Peninsula Daily News website at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/peninsuladailynews.

More information about Elwha River Restoration is available at the Olympic National Park website at www.nps.gov/olym.