Associated Press
ASHFORD — Before long, visitors to Mount Rainier will be told whether they can drive their cars to certain crowded spots.
Under a new 20-year management plan, a typical summer trip to the park would start at a "welcome center," where park officials would say which areas were no longer accepting cars. Then, visitors could catch shuttle buses to crowded locations or just drive through to take a quick peek.
The new rules will become official at Mount Rainier National Park early next year, barring a legal challenge, though the policies will be phased in over two decades.
An environmental review released last month upheld a strict ban on overflow parking and other proposals in the park’s new General Management Plan. Park officials expect to file the plan in the Federal Register this month.
About 2 million people visit the park each year, primarily in July and August. Officials say the natural splendor and the visitors’ experience suffer with huge crowds because it’s hard to get a good look.
"Basically, we’re just asking visitors to just do a little more prior planning before you come to the park, and spread the load out a little bit more, not just focus on Paradise or Sunrise on a sunny afternoon in the summertime," said Eric Walkinshaw, Mount Rainier’s planning chief.
He said the park can handle the number of people, just not the volume of vehicles. There’s not enough parking.
So those who visit during peak times could be asked just to look at exhibits at the welcome center and others might be encouraged to go to nearby Crystal Mountain and ride a chairlift to a peak that overlooks Mount Rainier National Park.
"You could go up and view the park without actually entering the park," Walkinshaw said.
The park’s management plan also includes recommendations for road repairs, removing a parking area near fragile Mowich Lake and building shoulder parking a half mile away, working to reduce manmade noise, steps to protect air quality, prohibiting stock such as horses, mules and llamas on most trails and obtaining about 1,100 acres for a drive-in campground.
The plan endorses Mount Rainier officials’ suggestion to demolish the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise and replace it with a smaller center.
The cost for all the projects is estimated to be $47.2 million, including $9.6 million to build and operate the new visitor center at Paradise, $12.7 million for four "welcome centers" outside the park and about
$20 million for road improvements, shuttles and staging areas.
The money for the recommendations has not been approved by Congress.
Park officials dropped a proposal to ban overnight parking at trailheads and other areas after groups such as The Mountaineers and Washington Trails Association objected, saying hikers and climbers coming and going at odd hours would have trouble finding shuttles.
"They made some good corrections," said Elizabeth Lunney, executive director of the trails association. She said the overnight ban proposal "was probably my single greatest concern out of that whole original plan."
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