Hiker Headlines: 30 Years of Trail Maintenance, More Highway 20 Trails Reopen, Hurricane Ridge Road to Close Temporarily

It’s Sept 14. We’re celebrating 30 years of trail maintenance at WTA! Sept 23 is National Public Lands Day. Take a survey to help Gifford Pinchot National Forest develop a sustainable trails strategy. There are some current and upcoming closures you might want to note when planning your weekend, but — in good news — some of the North Cascades wildfire closures have lifted. Here’s some news you may have missed while out on trail this week.

We're proud to be celebrating 30 years of our trail maintenance program. Photo by Juliet Evans. 

Happy anniversary to WTA's trail maintenance program! On Sept. 18, we’ll be celebrating 30 years of our trail maintenance program. Thanks to all the volunteers who have joined us, and we look forward to many more years working to protect our trails. 

Sept. 23 is National Public Lands Day (and the first day of autumn): It’s a day to celebrate our public lands and get out to care for our public spaces. If you want to celebrate the weekend protecting and maintaining our trails, sign up for a volunteer work party with us! Parking fees will be waived Sept. 23 on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Forest Service, Washington State Parks, Washington Department of Natural Resources and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife — use the Hiking Guide to plan your fall hiking season.  

Take the survey: Help shape the future of Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The Forest Service wants to hear from the public by Sept. 30 as they develop a sustainable trails strategy for future management of trails in the forest. 

Closures: Take note of the following closures as you’re planning your next hike:

• The Skyline trail between the Elip Creek Trail connector and Low Divide, the North Fork Quinault trail between Elip Creek and Chicago Camp and the entirety of the Martins Park trail are closed due to wildfires. 
• Hurricane Ridge Road will be closed for 3 weeks starting around Sept 19 for reconstruction work in the Hurricane Ridge area to repair damage from the fire earlier this year. 
• Starting Sept. 18 — due to annual closures — all campgrounds in Olympic National Forest will be closing for the season with some exceptions. Coho Campground and Campbell Tree Grove will close on Oct. 2 for the season, Satsop Center will close on Nov. 30 and Littleton Horsecamp is open year-round. Additionally, the Quinault Ranger Station will close for the season on Oct. 14. 
• A footbridge on the Trail of the Shadows in Mount Rainier National Park is closed for a replacement project. The project is expected to finish around Sept. 21. During this time, the entirety of the trail is still open, but cannot be completed as a loop due to the bridge closure. 

More North Cascades trails reopen: North Cascades National Park has reopened the Happy Panther trail and the Ross Dam Trail up through Ross Lake Resort, as well as the three Diablo Lake boat-in camps and Ross Dam Resort. The Ross Lake recreation area is only open for day use. Colonial Creek South campground has opened some walk-in sites, operating on a first-come, first-served basis — Colonial Creek North campground and the rest of the South campground remain closed. All other trail closures are still in place — Diablo Lake, the rest of the Ross Dam trail, Stetattle Creek, Big and Little Beaver, Sourdough Mountain and Happy Panther trails remain closed.

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