How to Actually Visit Our National Parks This Year
It's Been a rough year for the outdoors. The national parks especially; the Association of National Park Rangers notes that the park service has lost 12 percent of its workforce so far this year from cuts by the Trump administration. Most parks were already struggling to adequately staff, update, and maintain their facilities. What's more, Washington's biggest public spaces have faced a host of other challenges recently, from fires to washouts to broken bridges.
Here's what it all might mean for our favorite visitor centers and park destinations—and where to go if Plan A doesn't pan out. (Don't forget that we have a lot of state parks to see, too.)
Image: Courtesy Library of Congress
Mount Rainier National Park
On April 14, Washington Department of Transportation delivered bad news about the bridge that leads to Rainier's sleepiest corner, Mowich Lake. The 103-year-old Carbon River Bridge on State Route 165 needed urgent inspections due to structural issues. Then on April 22 it was announced that the inspection results were in and that the existing bridge was closed for good.
The span was the only access point to Mount Rainier National Park's Carbon River Ranger Station and Mowich Lake's campground and trailheads, leaving favorite hikes like Spray Park and Tolmie Peak completely unreachable. It is, frankly, a very big bummer.
Alternate Destination: While MRNP's biggest visitor destinations, Paradise and Sunrise, will still be open this summer, timed entry permits (no word yet on if they return in 2025) and massive crowds can make them impractical. But you know what has a lot of parking in the summer? Crystal Mountain Resort, about a 50-mile drive from the doomed Carbon River Bridge. The initial views aren't quite as jaw-dropping as from inside the national park, but the Pacific Crest Trail leads to great overlooks, and the ski area's gondola takes non-hikers to a stunning viewpoint (for a price, usually around $50).
Olympic National Park
We still don't know why the Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge caught fire in 2023, but it was a total loss. With few services at the Olympic National Park's most scenic visitor area, it's been a long wait for the few bathrooms.
Then last December, bad news from another corner of the peninsula: The county road that leads to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center—plus the Hoh Campground—suffered a washout. Fortunately, Jefferson County began repairs in April and the route reopened in early May. The state largely footed the bill; Governor Bob Ferguson pledged more than a half a million in funds pulled from unclaimed lottery winnings. Thank the scratch tickets!
Alternate Destination: While it's sad to lose the facility at Hurricane Ridge, the parking lot has been open in both summer and winter, meaning all the trails are still a go. The Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles has information and wilderness permits (and a bathroom stop before heading uphill to Hurricane Ridge). And though the Hoh reopened, Lake Quinault also has lots of trails that lead into the rainforest.
For the truly adventurous, there's never been a better time to try the park's smaller, sometimes steep routes to lesser used trailheads: Obstruction Point Road and Deer Park Road (both closed in winter).
North Cascades National Park
While the northerly park's two most visited centers—in Marblemount and Newhalem—are on track to reopen this year, there's no word yet on the park's most remote outpost, the Golden West Visitor Center. Located in Stehekin (and spared from the fires of summer 2024), it didn't open last year due to staffing issues.
Alternate Destination: In this case, if you were planning to visit the remote town of Stehekin and the parklands around it, there's no reason to cancel due to this one less info desk. Buses to trailheads (and the area's beloved bakery) are operated by the North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin and Stehekin Valley Adventures.
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Not exactly a national park, but close: Mount St. Helens is largely managed by a federal agency and dotted with visitor centers and hiking trails, so it's fair to lump it in with our NPS superstars. In 2023 the stunning facilities at Johnston Ridge became out of reach when a washout—yes, another one—destroyed part of the Spirit Lake Highway. WSDOT does not expect it to be repaired before 2027.
Alternate Destination: As we catalogued in 2024, there are options here. Two other visitor centers on the same highway (but before the closure) should be open this year: the US Forest Service’s Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake and Weyerhaeuser’s Forest Learning Center. Plus, the Mount St. Helens Institute's Science and Learning Center is open to the public. Windy Ridge Interpretive Site is a cool destination on the volcano's east side, with great views of the crater, but the bathrooms are closed there too (and the unpaved access roads only open in late spring).
