Environmental Assessment to Restore Interim Access to Queets Road

The Environmental Assessment (EA) for Restoring Interim Access to the Queets Area is available for public review and comment. The EA analyzes one action alternative for restoring interim access into the Queets Valley, along with a no action alternative.

The Queets Road has been closed to traffic since March 2005, when a rock slide undercut the road bed, creating cracks in the road and rendering it unsafe for vehicles. In January 2006, an even larger slide at the same site completely wiped out 150 feet of the road, leaving a 200-foot deep chasm and closing the area to pedestrian traffic as well.

"Thanks to excellent cooperation from our two neighboring agencies in the Queets, we are proposing to use DNR and U.S. Forest Service roads in order to establish an alternate route into the upper Queets area," said Olympic National Park Superintendent Bill Laitner. "Our goal is to re-establish access into the Queets rain forest, allowing people to once again enjoy the area and use the campground, boat ramps and trailheads."

The roads considered for restoring access to the Queets are U.S. Forest Service Roads 21 and 2180, both of which are currently open to the public. These roads would provide access to another U.S. Forest Service road and a DNR road, which would lead to a National Park Service road sometimes referred to as the "back door road." These roads have been used in the past for access by park staff, for emergency and administrative purposes, and when flooding or washouts have occurred along the first ten miles of the Queets Road.

Document Content:

EA to Restore Interim Access to Queets Area   (1.7 MB, PDF file) Appendix C Part 1   (178.9 KB, PDF file) Appendix C Part 2   (196.3 KB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.