News

Love mountain goats on the Olympic Peninsula? Better head to a few popular Olympic National Park and Forest peaks soon. In a press release from the USDA, and in info from Olympic National Park, it was announced that many of the most popular mountain hikes in the Pacific Northwest will be closing for a few days this summer. 

Olympic National Park officials have sent out a press release stating that the Staircase Road and campground will reopen Saturday, June 15 to visitors.

The closure for the road rehabilitation project has been extended an additional week to allow paving of the main road prior to re-opening. For public and worker safety, the road will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians at the park boundary through Friday, June 14.

Repairs on Staircase Road started on March 28 of 2019 and were scheduled to last for up to eight weeks. The road was supposed to have reopened to vehicles by Friday, May 24 in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Heading to Olympic National Park’s Sol Duc region in May of 2019? You may be in for a surprise. Without so much as a press release, Olympic National Park officials announced via their website that the foot bridge over Sol Duc Falls will be closed from May 15th through the 22nd of 2019. If you are reading this after May 22nd, 2019, ignore everything past this sentence. 

Remember when it snowed a ton in February and everyone was rejoicing at the snowpack in the mountains? Well, we have some potential bad news for you.

This week has been full of good news from Olympic National Park and it keeps on coming! On Friday, April 5th, 2019, Olympic National Park officials announced that the scenic Spruce Railroad Trail is once again open. This dog and bike-friendly trail should be added to your list of Olympic destinations! 

Great news from Olympic National Park, this time from one of the most scenic places the park has to offer. In a park known for being spoiled with beauty, thanks to stunning rainforests, wild rivers and rugged coastlines, another gorgeous destination is open to you whenever you want to visit it. The snow is melting and warmth is returning. The ridge is open. 

Good news for those who love the Hood Canal side of Olympic National Park! The road to Staircase will soon be repaired and open! During construction, the road will be closed to all traffic, including those on foot. The Shady Lane Trail is still open and accessible. 

Looking at visitation stats is nothing new for me. For the past decade, I have been analyzing trends and looking at visitation statistics to National Parks. My focus has always been on Olympic, as I grew up and reside next to the Park’s boundaries. I started researching visitation statistics for Olympic in 2010. It was then that I learned Olympic has consistently been one of the most-visited National Parks in America since 1979. In the last 39 years, it has never dropped out of the top 10, but that may soon change. 

Despite the smoke-filled skies of summer, the whiteout winter months and the endless drizzling rain of spring and fall, 2018 Was Mount Rainier National Park’s most popular year since at least 1992 and the 13th most-popular year in Rainier history. 

Every year, we compile a list of the most-visited National Parks around the country, and aside from a few jumps and dives, not much changes. In 2018, the National Parks of America had another popular year, inspiring hundreds of millions with nature, history and culture. While some parks, like Olympic, continue to plummet in visitation compared with other popular parks, places like Rocky Mountain have surged upwards over the part few years, reaching new heights. Give this list a glance and see how many of the country’s most popular parks you have visited.