Free trip up Hurricane Ridge Road

The News Tribune
Last updated: October 30th, 2008 12:50 AM (PDT)

The park is waiving the entrance fee that day as part of its celebration of the completion of the reconstruction and repair of the road.

A short ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at the Heart O’ the Hills entrance gate at 10 a.m. on Nov. 7. Heart O’ the Hills is about five miles south of Port Angeles.

Traffic will be held below the gate for up to 30 minutes to allow for the short ceremony.

After the ribbon-cutting, refreshments will be served at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, 12 miles beyond Heart O’ the Hills.

The $12 million project was completed thanks to a partnership between the Federal Lands Highway Program of the Federal Highway Administration, local contractor Lakeside Industries and the National Park Service.

Since the project began in late April, the Hurricane Ridge Road has been completely resurfaced, along with the Hurricane Ridge parking lot and numerous pullouts along the road. Repairs to three sections of road damaged during a December 2007 storm were also completed and new conduits to carry utility lines to Hurricane Ridge were installed.

The project was originally scheduled to take place over a two-year time period, but was completed in just over six months, park superintendent Karen Gustin said in a news release.

If you go

For information on visiting Hurricane Ridge and other sites within Olympic National Park, visitors should check the park’s Web site at www.nps.gov/olym or call the Olympic National Park Road and Weather Hotline at 360-565-3131.

Originally published: October 30th, 2008 12:50 AM (PDT)