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Heading the Quinault Rainforest in September of 2019? Be prepared for closures and restrictions to reach the Graves Creek region. Starting on September 3rd and lasting into early October, Olympic National Park will be working to fix spots on the road damaged from previous washouts. The image above is from a washout in 2016 that was temporarily fixed. The entire 2019 repair project and closure to vehicles is anticipated to last around four weeks, with the road scheduled to reopen to all access in early October.
On September 3rd and lasting for one week, the road leading to Graves Creek will be closed to all access at the intersection of the North and South Shore Roads. This includes, hikers, bikers, stock and vehicles. This closure will last for around one week. During this time, access to Enchanted Valley will be available from trailheads on the park’s east side.
After the first round of repairs is complete, the road will be accessible by foot, bicycle and stock for the remainder of the work. Be aware that parking is limited and will fill up quickly on weekends. Visitors who do enter the Quinault Rainforest during this period of construction must ensure they have the attention and permission of the road crew prior to passing through the work zone.
For the final washout repair, the road closure is expected to move from the intersection of the North and South Shore roads to approximately milepost 4. This move of the closure is anticipated for the last week of work. Parking is limited.
Graves Creek Road is a six-mile long gravel road that runs from the intersection of the North and South Shore roads to the Graves Creek Trailhead and these repairs are critical to maintaining vehicle access to the area.
The Olympic National Park road crew is scheduled to begin repairs to three washouts on the Quinault Valley’s Graves Creek Road on Tuesday, September 3. The Graves Creek Road has sustained damage during the last few years of winter storms and is in dire need of repair. While the Graves Creek Road is closed, there will be no vehicle access to the Graves Creek Trailhead and Graves Creek Campground.
The road repairs involve the placement of large logs along the length of the embankments, with the logs’ rootwads facing into the stream to encourage the development of fish habitat. Rock ballast will be placed to secure the logs and prevent buoyancy, and the gravel road will then be rebuilt overtop the logs. The logs for this project were salvaged from previous projects in the park.
The cost for the road repair project is $140,000 and is funded through the Federal Lands Transportation Program (FLTP) of the Federal Highway Administration. The FLTP funds projects that improve access within Federal lands (national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges, national recreation areas, and other Federal public lands) on transportation facilities in the national Federal Lands transportation inventory, and owned and maintained by the Federal government.
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