Road to Paradise reopens, but more work lies ahead

MOUNT RAINER — For the past six months, the road to Paradise has been eerily quiet. The most popular destination in Mount Rainier National Park has been closed since epic rains last November devastated the area.

Saturday, after an equally epic $5 million effort to repair the damage, the park reopened. Rangers said visitors will find the park a markedly different place, one with new landscapes and vistas — and new dangers.

"This is the day we have been working [toward] since November," said Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga. But everyone here knows that months, possibly years, of work lie ahead.

The fall's torrential rain — 18 inches in 36 hours — washed away bridges and roads, obliterated hiking trails and destroyed campgrounds. The damage is estimated at $36 million. Never before has weather closed the 365-square-mile park.

Much of the completed work has focused on road repair. The park's busiest road, the 19-mile Nisqually Road to Paradise, was heavily damaged by washouts and debris.

Visitors on Saturday might have noticed little more than the new pavement initially, especially if they were new to the park, said Jim Ross, a seasonal ranger at Mount Rainier for 41 years.

"Our regular visitors, they'll notice it as soon as they come through the gate," he said.

"You go through that gate and it was all green — a wall of trees on either side." Those trees were uprooted in the storms. "Now, you come around the curve, and there's light — you can practically see the river. It's a huge change," Ross says.

Several major roads, including the Carbon River Road and State Highway 123, will likely remain closed all summer.

Right now, officials hope to be able to open some roads on the eastern side of the park in the Ohanapecosh region by late this month.