Ready for Paradise? Access to Mount Rainier back to normal after government shutdown

Access to the national parks is back to normal after the three-day government shutdown ended Monday.

Mount Rainier National Park resumed tweeting Tuesday morning and was plowing the road to Paradise, although it was not open for the day due to high avalanche danger.

Visitors during the shutdown could still go to Longmire and hike trails near the Carbon River Entrance, but Paradise was off-limits.

Although Mount Rainier’s website still showed alerts about limited access, officials said operations are back to normal and all of the 110 winter employees at Rainier had returned.

Only 36 of the 110 continued working during the shutdown.

Things were back in full swing at Olympic National Park as well.

The park’s “employees are happy to be back at work, serving the American people and welcoming visitors to their national parks,” according to a news release.

Employees are working to clear debris from Rialto Beach, which closed Thursday after a major storm.

The Elwha Olympic Hot Springs Road is closed due to flood damage and the Staircase area is closed to vehicles due to a washout just outside the park boundary.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Ready for Paradise? Access to Mount Rainier back to normal after government shutdown."