By Peninsula Daily News staff and Olympic National Park staff
PORT ANGELES — Olympic Hot Springs Road, which provides the only vehicular access to the Elwha Valley of Olympic National Park west of Port Angeles, will close to all public access, including cars, pedestrians and bicycles, just past the Altair campground on Monday.
A gate has been installed and will be locked on Monday to allow U.S. Bureau of Reclamation employees to begin the six-week process of decommissioning the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam, part of the three-year, $327 million Elwha River dam removal project that begins in mid-September.
Following decommissioning, Barnard Construction, Inc. will assume control of the Glines Canyon area and prepare the site for dam removal work.
The closure of Olympic Hot Springs Road south of Altair campground will last for the duration of dam removal project.
Access to the campground and other areas in the Elwha Valley, including the Elwha campground, will not be affected by the road closure.
Effective Monday, Glines Canyon Dam, Lake Mills, Olympic Hot Springs and the Boulder Creek trail and campground will no longer be accessible via Olympic Hot Springs Road.
Olympic Hot Springs itself will be inaccessible from the Elwha Valley.
Hikers who want to visit Olympic Hot Springs during the dam removal project can reach the area by hiking 14 miles from the Sol Duc Valley via Appleton Pass.
The closure does not affect access to Sol Duc Hot Springs, which is 20 miles southwest of the dams.
