Storm Damage Ravaged our Hiking Trails.
You can Help.


Last winter was especially hard on Mount Rainier National Park. This stretch of the popular Wonderland Trail that circles Mount Rainier National was wiped out by a single storm.
Major storms destroyed trails and roads throughout the Cascades and Olympics in late 2006, causing an estimated $70 million in damage. Mount Rainier National Park suffered damages to roads into the Park and dozens of hiking trails. Our national forests suffered extensively also -- access to 70% of the hiking trails in the Mountain Loop Highway area of the North Cascades was lost, and many popular trailheads in the South Cascades will remain out of reach through this season.

Washington Trails Association is working for a full recovery of trails and roads lost in the severe winter storms. But we.ll only be able to do this if hikers like you pitch in to help. We have a busy schedule ahead of us to get these trails back into shape, from removing downed logs to repairing trail washouts and washed-away footlogs. Our storm damage recovery work parties have already begun, and as the snow melts we can begin to access more of the trails hit hard by storms.

Pitch in to help. WTA is hosting 12 weeks of work throughout Mount Rainier National Park this spring and summer, assigning crews to work sites as we receive damage reports. We are also repairing damage to national forest trails throughout the state. Click here for our volunteer work party schedule, and sign up to repair storm damage on a trail work party today. Or fill out the form below and we'll email you periodic updates on storm damage and our work party schedule.

Stay informed. This year, it will be more important than ever for hikers to research trail conditions before heading out, and explore with extra caution. Search WTA's online trip reports for recent hike reports on storm damage conditions, and don't forget to post your own reports when you get home from your hike. Stay tuned to www.wta.org for a storm-damaged trails database coming in late May. And get the latest news on storm damage recovery funding, safety issues, and trail closures from WTA's Signpost Blog.

Washington Trails Association is part of NW Parks and Public Lands Storm Recovery Coalition, which also includes the National Parks Conservation Association, the Student Conservation Association, the Washington National Park Fund and the Mountaineers. It was formed to facilitate the restoration of Northwest National Parks and Forests. Funded in part by REI, Inc., this coalition will facilitate volunteer restoration of trails and bridges throughout the spring and summer.

Sign up here to receive updates about opportunities to help repair storm-damaged trails at Mount Rainier. (* Denotes a required field)


Many trails on National Forest land have been severely damaged as well including the newly constructed wheelchair accessible trail leading to the Big Four Ice Caves in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Photo by Adrian Hall, USFS
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Recent Media Coverage about Backcountry Storm Damage in the Northwest

National forest budgets battered
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Apr 19, 2007

Funding for our National Forests is disgraceful
Yakima Herald-Republic - Apr 19, 2007

The damage done -- Not all areas of Mount Rainier will be open
Yakima Herald-Republic - Apr 5, 2007

Flood damage -- Before you go
Yakima Herald-Republic, WA - April 5, 2007

When the gates open, visitors will find much that's changed on Mount Rainier
Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA - April 4, 2007

Volunteers gear up for a summer of trail repairs across Washington
Seattle Times, WA - Mar 29, 2007

Hikers warned about winter damage
Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA - Mar 28, 2007

Spring snowmelt poses hiking risks
The Olympian, WA - Mar 22, 2007