PORT ANGELES — Olympic National Park’s upper Hot Springs Road and Boulder Creek Trail in the Elwha Valley will be closed at the Glines Canyon Dam beginning today for a $1,037,000 trail rehabilitation project.
The road and trail are expected to be closed until winter, the park said in a statement.
The closure is to permit SAYBR Contractors Inc. of Tacoma to work on the Boulder Creek Trail.
Asphalt will be removed from a 2.2-mile section of the former Boulder Creek Road, trail width will be reduced to between 24 and 30 inches and footbridges will be installed.
During the work, access to the Glines Canyon Dam will remain open.
The closure is because of a likelihood of uneven surfaces during asphalt removal, the replacement of a footbridge at Crystal Creek and heavy equipment operation, Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin said.
Lake Mills
The Lake Mills boat ramp will remain open through Aug. 25, when it will be closed to allow a sediment management project to be conducted on the Lake Mills delta.
During the Boulder Creek Trail closure, hikers may reach the Olympic Hot Springs from the Sol Duc trailhead via Appleton Pass.
From Sol Duc, the route to the hot springs is about 13 miles, with a 2,500-foot change in elevation.
The Boulder Creek Trail work originally was scheduled for 2011, but federal stimulus funds — funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — allowed the project timeline to be moved forward by one year.
For progress reports on National Park Service Recovery Act projects throughout the country, see http://recovery.doi.gov/nps.
For more information about hiking options within the park, phone the Wilderness Information Center at 360-565-3100.