Here’s how you can help make it easier to access Mount Rainier National Park

Have you ever been stuck in traffic on the way to Mount Rainier?

The National Park Service wants to know. On Monday, it announced future improvements to the roadway connecting Nisqually and Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park. Public input will help shape the project.

“Mount Rainier National Park has seen an upward trend in visitation over the last several years”, Mount Rainier Planning & Compliance Branch Chief Teri Tucker wrote in an email. ”(We hope to) protect the resource conditions and values that make Mount Rainier National Park a special place for so many people.”

Planning began in 2019 when park administrators realized that the over 30% increase in visitors over the last decade necessitated improvements to preserve the park experience.

According to the planning website, traffic congestion has led to hour-long wait times at the Nisqually entrance . Some parking lots and trailheads have become congested. The project has identified a need to make new trails to accommodate extra visitors who have been going off trail and trampling vegetation.

Park planners also aim to preserve historical sites, cultural sites and natural resources — like Mount Rainier National Park’s famous wildflower meadows.

This planning effort began before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tucker wrote.

To determine what improvements need to be made, park officials have created a website for the public to comment.

Questions to be considered:

▪ What experiences in the Nisqually Corridor do you find most important?

▪ How are these experiences unique from other experiences you have in the rest of the park and/or in Washington state?

▪ What issues most interfere with your desired park experience within the Nisqually to Paradise corridor?

Areas that are part of the Nisqually corridor include the Nisqually entrance station, Westside Road, Kautz Creek, Longmire museum/recreational center, Cougar Rock campground, Carter Falls and Paradise.

The park will hold a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1 from 6-7 p.m. to seek additional comments.

You can find more information about the project at the Nisqually Corridor Management Plan’s website.