Landslide closes portion of Spruce Railroad Trail

By Michael Dashiell • January 6, 2021 1:30 am
A washout blocks safe passage along the Spruce Railroad Trail. Olympic National Park officials noted the trail closure on Jan. 3, citing heavy rains as the cause of the landslide. Photos by Noel Carey
A washout blocks safe passage along the Spruce Railroad Trail. Olympic National Park officials noted the trail closure on Jan. 3, citing heavy rains as the cause of the landslide. Photos by Noel Carey

A popular Olympic National Park trail and segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail that recently underwent a multi-year, multi-million-dollar upgrade is closed again.

Heavy rains brought a landslide that has closed the Spruce Railroad Trail between the Daley Rankin and McFee tunnels.

Park officials noted the trail closure on Jan. 3, citing heavy rains as the cause of the landslide.

Penny Wagner, a spokesperson for the Olympic National Park, said the landslide is about 280 feet in length that includes earth and downed trees.

”We don’t anticipate that (the landslide) damaged the trail itself; it’s a matter of being able to clear the landslide,” she said Tuesday.

“Right now with additional rain in the forecast, we will be working on the debris removal after the weather clears up a bit,” Wagner said. “We will try to get that work done as soon as possible.”

Trail-users can still access the east or west ends of the trailhead and use the trail for out-and-back-hikes, Wagner said.

The trail, located on the north end of Lake Crescent just west of Port Angeles, saw a refurbishing project that saw construction crews pave a 10-mile stretch to provide a universally accessible, multipurpose trail to be shared by hikers, bicyclists, equestrians and people traveling in wheelchairs.

The trail closed in early March 2020 and re-opened in early December.

Noel Carey of Sequim said he saw trail users this past weekend work their way across the landslide sinking up to their knees in mud, but estimated the slide could be as deep as 10-15 feet.

The Spruce Railroad Trail follows the historic railroad grade of the Spruce Railroad, built in 1918 to harvest and transport aircraft-quality spruce for biplanes in World War I. Today, the railroad grade is part of Olympic National Park and the trail is a piece of the planned 135-mile long Olympic Discovery Trail which will eventually connect Port Townsend to La Push.

For trail safety information, see www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/conditions.htm. For more trail, road and travel information, see www.nps.gov/olym or call the recorded Road and Weather Hotline at 360-565-3131.