Chinook, Cayuse passes won’t open until June

New study verifies financial benefit Rainier holds for gateway communities.

By Kevin Hanson Courier-Herald Senior Writer • May 19, 2018 8:00 am
A slide covered Chinook Pass as recently as April 9, which further complicated a Memorial Day weekend opening. Photo courtesy Washington State Department of Transportation
A slide covered Chinook Pass as recently as April 9, which further complicated a Memorial Day weekend opening. Photo courtesy Washington State Department of Transportation

Motorists have traditionally been able to cross Chinook Pass – the scenic stretch of highway connecting Western Washington with the Yakima Valley – by the Memorial Day weekend. But that’s not the case this year.

Due to a combination of spring snow and road construction, the two mountain passes east of Enumclaw, Chinook and Cayuse, will likely not open until June 11.

The announcement about the delayed openings was made last week by Mount Rainier National Park officials.

Closed until June will be sections of state routes 410 and 123 between the park’s Sunrise Road and Stevens Canyon Road.

Contractors were to begin work April 30 to repair a quarter-mile of SR 410 near along the Mather Memorial Parkway inside the national park boundaries. For several years, motorists have experienced rough road surfaces at this location related to a slow-moving and deep-seated landslide.

Park officials said the road repair project was timed to have the least impact possible on the traveling public. Following the anticipated June 11 road reopening, project work will continue until late June. During that time travelers should expect short delays with alternating one-way traffic between mileposts 64 and 64.5.

While access over Chinook and Cayuse passes is delayed, the entrance to the national park – from Crystal Mountain Boulevard to the White River Campground – is anticipated to open May 18. This will provide recreational opportunities in the White River area in advance of the road to Sunrise opening for the summer. Conditions permitting, the road to Sunrise typically opens by the Fourth of July holiday.

The Chinook Pass opening also was delayed a year ago, when a late snowfall caught crews by surprise. The pass didn’t open until June 9, 2017. Chinook had opened by the holiday weekend in seven of the eight years prior to that.

On the south side of the mountain, park staff have targeted today, May 11, to open the southeast entrance near Packwood, providing access via SR 123 to the Grove of the Patriarchs area.

For more images of Chinook and Cayuse Pass, check out the WSDOT flickr.

Rainier’s financial benefit

A day after Mount Rainier National Park announced this year’s opening of Chinook Pass would be delayed, a study was released spelling out the fiscal impact the park plays on local economies.

Foothills communities like Enumclaw are keenly aware that, during the past five years, visitation to Mount Rainier National Park has steadily increased. Moreover, the park anticipates the trend will continue this summer.

“Mount Rainier National Park welcomes visitors from around the Pacific Northwest, across the country and around the world,” Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said.

Advocating for the national park system, he noted that “tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 for every $1 invested.”

Tourism is significant as well at the hometown level, including Enumclaw.

That’s why a small Plateau group was high on the mountain May 3, treated to a guided tour of roadwork being performed this spring. Along for the scenic ride – coordinated by the state Department of Transportation and National Park Service – were Troy Couch, executive director of the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce, and Buckley Mayor Pat Johnson, among others.

“Obviously it’s a concern,” Couch said of anything that prohibits visitors from motoring around the mountain.

During the trip up SR 410 and on to Cayuse Pass, “we just wanted to keep it in their minds, getting things done as quickly as possible would be appreciated.”

A new report shows there were more than 1.4 million recreational visitors to Mount Rainier National Park during 2017. They spent an estimated $50.6 million in communities surrounding the park resulting in a net impact to the economy of approximately $63.5 million.

The information for Mount Rainier National Park is part of a peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis that shows $18.2 billion of direct spending by 330.8 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park.

According to the 2017 report, most park visitor spending was for lodging/camping (32.9 percent) followed by food and beverages (27.5 percent), gas and oil (12.1 percent), souvenirs and other expenses (10.1 percent) and admissions and fees (10.0 percent).