Olympic Hot Springs Road through the Elwha Valley remained closed Thursday since it flooded Nov. 15, Olympic National Park spokeswoman Penny Wagner said.
The flooded area is near the Elwha Campground, where a series of storms washed out about 90 feet of road. The road was closed to vehicles from November 2015 to January of this year.
Hikers still can access the Madison Falls trailhead off Olympic Hot Springs Road, but the road has closed to vehicle access beyond the parking area, Wagner said.
Wagner said the national park’s fish biologist does not have measurements of the standing water at this time but noted it’s “pretty impressive, considering the river flow.”
At 5 p.m. Thursday, the Elwha River was running at 8,840 cubic feet per second at McDonald Bridge near Port Angeles, but Wagner said the river began flooding while running around 3,000 cfs.
Up-to-date river flows may be found at waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/current/?type=flow.
Wagner partly attributed flooding to some log jams breaking apart.
The roads will reopen when the park has determined the water levels no longer pose a safety hazard, Wagner said. She could not provide an estimate at this time.
Current conditions of roads in Olympic National Park may be found by calling 360-565-3131 or visiting www.nps.gov/olym/plany ourvisit/current-road-conditions.htm.
Olympic National Park Ranger John Bowie examines a meander of the Elwha River as it floods through the former Elwha Campground and under a newly-installed one-lane bridge on Olympic Hot Springs Road in the Elwha Valley on Thursday. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
