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Here is something we’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks:
Bite-size audio information for your weekly adventure planning at Olympic National Park. Hope you like it and find it useful!
Transcript:
Hello and welcome to the Adventure Dispatch for Olympic National Park for the week of April 15th through the 22nd, 2016. This week’s information is powered by The Outdoor Society.
The weather for this week will be pretty awesome all of your outdoor adventures. In the Hurricane Ridge region, you can expect temperature around 65 degrees during the day, and possible rain on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday). Along the coast and off in the rainforest, the temperature will be in the low 60s, while there is a 50% chance of rain on Wednesday through Saturday. Along the Hood Canal, the temperatures will be around 65 degrees during the day, with rain probable on Thursday through Saturday. The snow level in the Olympics will be around 6500ft, with the freezing level dropping to 6000ft on Wednesday, coming down from 11,000ft on Monday. This means that for most of the week, you’ll have dry conditions, clear trails and maybe even some amazing sunsets!
The snowpack in the Olympics is currently at 102% of normal, with trails around the Park and Peninsula snow-free at around 3500ft. Unless you want to hike in snow, stay in the lowlands!
This week, the following roads are closed in Olympic National Park, restricting access to the following areas. Along Hood Canal, the Dosewallips Road is closed, as it has been for nearly a decade. Don’t expect this to change.
Along the northern side of the park, Deer Park Road is closed for the winter, as is Obstruction Point Road near Hurricane Ridge. The Hurricane Ridge Road is scheduled to be open Friday through Sunday, depending on weather and staffing. This means you’ll have to play it by ear to get up to Hurricane Ridge. Send us an email or tweet and we can give you more information.
Out on the Elwha, both the Olympic Hot Springs Road and Whiskey Bend Road are closed due to a washout on the main road. Access is still possible for hikers, but it is a longer trek for those not used to hiking.
Every other Olympic National Park road is currently open and should remain that way all week. Keep in mind that the Graves Creek Road in the Quinault Region is washed out 2 miles from the Graves Creek Campground. RVs and larger cars are not allowed to drive the Graves Creek Road to the washout, since the turnaround area is so small.
If you are hoping to go camping in Olympic National Park, Camping in Olympic is currently open in the following campgrounds: Dosewallips, Graves Creek, Heart O the Hills, Hoh, Kalaloch, Mora, North Fork, Ozette, Queets, Sol Duc and Staircase. Both the Dosewallips and Graves Creek Campgrounds are open, but access is walk-in only. Remember that only Kalaloch accepts reservations, every other campground is first come, first serve.
For those visiting Olympic this week, the trail of the week, brought to you byThe Outdoor Society is the Staircase Loop Trail. Located in the Staircase region of Olympic National Park, this trail will be the perfect short hike to get out in the spring warmth. At two miles round trip with minimal elevation gain, this trail is the best way to see the Hood Canal region of Olympic. Staircase also offers access to mountains to climb and further day hikes for the more intense weekend adventurer.
This week, the Peninsula and Park will be holding National Park Week throughout the park. For National Park week, entry fees will be waved for visitors on April 16th through the 24th of the month. On Saturday, April 16th, Junior Ranger Day will take place at the main visitor center in Port Angeles from 10am until 2pm.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us on Twitter or send us an email.
That’s it. Thanks for tuning in and catch you next week, same time, same place.
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