#westside road

[mountrainiernps]

It’s National Take a Hike Day! While many of Mount Rainier National Park’s higher elevation trails are covered in snow, if you are prepared there are still options to get out for a hike. For easy trails with less chance of snow, try Twin Firs Trail or Trail of the Shadows in Longmire. Rampart Ridge Trail or the Wonderland Trail also start from Longmire but are longer trails that climb to higher elevations. Westside Road, near the Nisqually Entrance, is closed to vehicles, but the first three miles is a gentle walk through the forest to Dry Creek. Carbon River in the northwest corner of the park is also a great lower elevation area for hiking. No matter the trail, be prepared for quickly changing conditions and carry the 10 Essentials, including food and water: https://go.nps.gov/MORASafety.

Where will you go for a hike? Learn more about winter hiking at Mount Rainier:

Longmire in Winter: https://go.nps.gov/LongmireWinter

Westside Road in Winter: https://go.nps.gov/WestsideRoadWinter

Carbon River in Winter: https://go.nps.gov/CarbonRiverWinter

NPS Photos of Carbon River Trail (8/30/23), Rampart Ridge Trail (10/4/23), and Trail of the Shadows (11/15/23). ~kl

[mountrainiernps]

Mount Rainier National Park Archives Photo of Civilian Conservation Corps crews working on Westside Road in the 1930s (top). NPS Photo of the Westside Road next to Tahoma Creek in 2015 (bottom).

Like the Wonderland Trail encircling Mount Rainier, an “around-the-mountain" system of roads was envisioned for Mount Rainier National Park during the 1910s to early 1920s. It was only partially achieved during the following decades with the creation of SR123/410 on the east side of the park and Stevens Canyon Road in the south. Westside Road, as its name implies, was intended to span the west side of the park from Nisqually Entrance to Mowich Lake. However, budget constraints and the rugged topography of the mountain prevented completion of Westside Road and it was left as a 13-mile-long spur road. Repeated flood damage from Tahoma Creek eventually closed Westside Road to vehicles after the first three miles. Built from 1926-1934, Westside Road is still considered part of the Mount Rainier National Historic District due to its association with the park’s early master planning.

Mount Rainier National Park Archives Photo of St. Andrews Creek Bridge. NPS Photo of the St. Andrews Creek Bridge in 2014.

One of the historic structures along Westside Road is St. Andrews Creek Bridge, built in 1930-1931. St. Andrews Creek Bridge includes two set of stone stairs that descend to the creek from the northeast and southwest corners of the bridge. The 115-foot-long, 34-foot-wide bridge is a reinforced concrete-filled spandrel arch veneered in native granite.

Have you hiked or bicycled over St. Andrews Creek Bridge along Westside Road?

[mountrainiernps]

Landscape Language

Ribbon (adj) – a type of waterfall with a very narrow stream

Ribbon waterfalls are often temporary or ephemeral waterfalls, like this unnamed waterfall flowing off Mount Wow along Westside Road. The best time to view ribbon waterfalls is during the spring when snow melt creates numerous ephemeral waterfalls around the park. Ribbon waterfalls can also form in the fall during times of heavy rainfall. Have you seen ribbon falls in the park?

NPS/S. Redman Photo ~kl

[mountrainiernps]

Debris Flow Season

Tahoma Creek Debris Flow, August 13, 2015

Video of the August 13, 2015 debris flow at Mount Rainier NP. Zachary Jones & Caroline Pedro were walking up Westside Road to the Tahoma Cre

With the increased temperatures forecasted for this week, it is now firmly “debris flow season” at Mount Rainier National Park and will be so until about the middle of November. As a reminder, a debris flow is a fast-moving moving mass or slurry of loose mud, sand, soil, rock, water and air that travels down a slope in a river valley under the influence of gravity. Most summer debris flows start as glacial outburst floods, which are the sudden release of stored water within a glacier. The water surges out of the glacier and quickly picks up lose material downslope of glaciers and turn into a debris flow. Debris flows are the most destructive form of landslide and can affect valley bottoms many miles from their source.

This video filmed by visitors shows an August 13, 2015 debris flow from the South Tahoma Glacier that flowed down Tahoma Creek along the Westside Road. Because of this debris flow and similar events in the park, park geologists have developed a system for real-time monitoring for debris flows and weekly forecasts for debris flow hazards in the park available at https://morageology.com/.

If you are planning on recreating near any glacially-fed park river, please keep constant situational awareness of your surroundings and always know your evacuation route. If you hear rumbling from upstream, feel the ground shaking, or see a sudden increase in river level, immediately vacate the river bottom and get up high as quickly as possible. Learn more about geohazard safety.

Video Credit: Zachary Jones & Caroline Pedro (both were uninjured from the debris flow). ~kl

[mountrainiernps]

Mountain Moment: Tahoma Creek

Tahoma Creek, prone to debris flows and flooding, has covered the valley floor in rocky debris and dead trees. You can easily view the creek from Westside Road, which has been repeatedly washed out in the past. Remember, if you are hiking or biking along the creek and hear a loud rumbling sound (like a train), feel the ground shaking, or see a rapid rise in water level, it could be a debris flow and you should head to higher ground immediately! A location 160 feet (50 m) or more above river level should be safe.

Learn more about geohazards and Tahoma Creek.

NPS Video. Description: A glaciated mountain peak rises above a forested valley with a wide, rocky river bed. The river bed is filled with large rocks and dead trees. Two people ride bikes along a dirt road next to the rocky river bed. Audio of rushing water noise only. ~kl

[mountrainiernps]

When was the last time you bicycled at Mount Rainier National Park?

Admittedly, Mount Rainier is not an easy place to bike. Our paved roads tend to be skinny, winding, mountainous, have few shoulders and quite a few steep grades.

But there is this one dirt road; Westside Road. About 1 mile uphill from the Nisqually Entrance (nearest Ashford, WA.), this dirt road takes off from the main road and heads north, up over Round Pass and then ends near the Puyallup River. Only the first 3 miles of the road are open to motor vehicles (and only in the summer). After that, it’s hikers and bicyclists only. A great place to go for a ride.

Now I’m not saying it’s easy. Guessing many of you can speak to how hard you found it bicycling over the side of Mount Rainier. But it is beautiful and car-free. What is your favorite memory of bicycling on Westside Road? ~ams

For more information and a video on bicycling in Mount Rainier National Park, please see https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/bicycling.htm

Please note that none of these pictures are current, but from years past. NPS Photo (top) Summer barricade on Westside Road marking end of road open to motor vehicles and that hikers and bicyclists can go beyond. May, 2018. NPS Photo (middle top) Snowmelt waterfall on Mount Wow. July, 2013. NPS Photo (middle bottom) NPS Photo (middle bottom) Red paintbrush blooming on Westside Road. May, 2019. NPS Photo (bottom) Mount Rainier seen from Westside Road. May, 2019.

[mountrainiernps]

Landscape Language Hiemal (adj) – relating to winter, wintry With ongoing waves of snow storms, winter is on the mind. Hiemal, or wintry, topics range from assessing conditions for cross-country skiing (or staying inside with hot chocolate) to trying to predict when the snow will melt for summer hiking. What hiemal pursuits are keeping you busy?

______ NPS/A. Spillane Photo of cross-country ski tracks along Westside Road. Description: Ski tracks follow a snowy road surrounded by snow-covered forest. ~kl

[mountrainiernps]

There are many ways to experience Mount Rainier National Park. Most visitors explore the park in vehicles or on foot, but why not by bike? Most of Westside Road is closed to vehicles, but is open to bicycling and hiking. Ride through old-growth forest, visit a historic ranger cabin and stonework bridges, and pause to remember the long history of the mountain.

Watch the full video at https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/photosmultimedia/mount-rainier-experiences.htm

~kl