Visitors to Gifford Pinchot National Forest can now drive on Forest Road 25. The road, providing key north-south access from Randle and Packwood to Swift Reservoir and to the east side of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, reopened Saturday.

Drivers should use caution on Road 25 as some road areas might have settled, and rocks and other debris may be on the roadbed, according to a U.S. Forest news release.

At the north end of the road, a bridge project will enable coho salmon to access additional habitat in Woods Creek. A temporary bridge bypass allows drivers to access Road 25 with only minor delays at milepost 4, south of Randle. This project will begin later this month.

Forest Road 99, which provides access to Windy Ridge Interpretive Site, is not open. Road crews are assessing the effects of heavy snowpack and winter storm damage on this higher-elevation road.

Forest Road 23, a major cross-forest route between Randle and Trout Lake, remains closed by snow. A washout 0.8 miles north of the junction with Forest Road 90 will only allow access to Takhlakh Lake Campground by traveling south from Randle, on Forest Road 23. Construction to repair this section of road will begin later this summer.

Due to flood damage, Forest Road 81 remains closed between Kalama Horse Camp and Forest Road 830 leading to Climbers Bivouac (Forest Road 830). Construction to repair this section of road is scheduled for the summer of 2009.

Access to the Climbers Bivouac remains limited due to snow. The closest access point is currently the junction of Forest Roads 81 and 830.

Forest Road 83 is open to the Marble Mountain Sno-Park but closed to all motorized traffic east of the Marble Mountain Sno-Park, due to flood damage. This has closed access to the Lahar and Lava canyons on the south side of Mount St. Helens. Construction to repair this section of road is scheduled begin late this summer.