Travel / Outdoors

This photo of Mount Rainier was posted Thursday on the national park’s Twitter feed with the note, “What a beautiful morning to welcome us back to Mount Rainier!” (photo courtesy of @MountRainierNPS)

“When I put the flag up today it felt so good,” said Ranger Maureen McLean at Mount Rainier National Park, as Rainier and Washington’s other national parks reopened Thursday.

They were among hundreds of parks,  monuments and historic sites across the nation reopening after the 16-day government shutdown.

Park gates and some visitor centers are open, but it might be a couple days before all is again running smoothly. At Rainier:

• Gates were open Thursday morning, with the normal $15 per vehicle admission fee. Paradise and Stevens Canyon roads are (more…)

The now-reopened Kalaloch Lodge sits on a bluff above the ocean on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula. (Lynn Jacobson photo / The Seattle Times

Kalaloch Lodge, an oceanfront getaway at Olympic National Park, has reopened after getting special permission from the National Park Service.

But there’s a problem. Guests aren’t allowed to walk on the lovely, wild beach right in front of the 64-room lodge because the beach lies within the national park – and the park still is closed.

Like lodges at national parks throughout the country, the 64-room Kalaloch had to send guests home and close for more than a week, thanks to the federal government shutdown that has closed the parks. (Unlike many lodgings that  are deep within closed parks,  Kalaloch is right off a highway - U.S. 101 – that has remained open.)

To lure back guests and celebrate Olympic National Park’s 75^th anniversary, Kalaloch is offering discounted rooms – at $75 per night ­- for arrival from now until Jan. 26, 2014. (Yes, there are blackout periods during popular periods.)

At Olympic National Park, a gate blocks access to the park’s Elwha Valley near Port Angeles. Park roads are closed because of the federal government shutdown. (AP/Keith Thorpe)

Washington’s national-park  gems — Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades — remain closed, thanks to the federal shutdown. Locals can, with some effort and confusion, figure out other places to go for scenic drives, hikes and other recreation.

But for out-of-state and foreign visitors, the national-park closures are ruining long-planned trips and have local businesses near the parks worried about lingering economic impacts.

“People come from China, Germany, everywhere to see Mount Rainier,” said (more…)

You can’t go to Mount Rainier National Park, thanks to the government shutdown which has closed national parks in Washington state  and throughout the country. (Elaine Thompson/AP photo)

With national parks now closed because of the government shutdown, some of Washington state’s most popular scenic drives and outdoor recreation areas are off-limits to the public. And for communities around the parks it’s an economic body-blow with hotels, restaurants, shops and tour companies losing business.

“Our fall shoulder season is huge – usually,” said Mary Brelsford of the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau.  And in Mount Rainier National Park alone, there (more…)

Kayakers paddle in the deep, turquoise waters of Lake Crescent, in Olympic National Park, which rates No. 8 in a new ranking of America’s 59 national parks. (photo by Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

In a new ranking of America’s 59 national parks, Washington’s three national parks all fall in the top 20.

Olympic National Park is ranked No. 8, North Cascades National Park is ranked No. 14, and Mount Rainier National Park comes in at No. 18.

To come up with the ranking, The Active Times website, oriented to the outdoors and adventure, used three criteria: biodiversity, range of visitor activities and the opinions of an expert panel.

The panel of experts included 17 writers, landscape photographers and travel professionals who write about and study national parks and spend much more time there than the average person. Among those who helped out were Kurt Repanshek, editor of National Parks Traveler, Michael Joseph Oswald, author of “Your Guide to the National Parks: The Complete Guide to All 58 National Parks,“ and nature photographer QT Luoung, who’s captured every park on his large format camera and was featured in Ken Burns’ documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” Recently departed Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also weighed in.

Here’s the top 20 in the ranking: (more…)

Lake Crescent Lodge is one of the venues for Saturday celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Olympic National Park. (photo by Kristin Jackson/The Seattle Times)

Join in the celebration of Olympic National Park’s 75th anniversary this Saturday, June 29. That’s when the National Park Service and the park concessionaire Aramark will stage events to mark the diamond anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Olympic Peninsula tour that led to the park’s creation.

The celebration starts at 9 a.m. June 29 with breakfast at Lake Crescent Lodge, to commemorate the start of Roosevelt’s expedition. Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum and other dignitaries will speak at the event. Free cake and lavender iced tea will be (more…)

Got a day off during the week to come?

Look for sea otters at Cape Alava, one of the places you can visit fee-free in Olympic National Park next week. (photo by James Branaman/The Seattle Times)

In observance of National Park Week, entry fees will be waived Monday through Friday, April 22-26, at Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks, and all other parks and properties managed by the National Park Service across the nation.

Entrance to Rainier and Olympic is usually $15 per car (good for seven days).

Remember that Paradise, on Mount Rainier, still has 16 feet of snow, and park rules require that visitors carry tire chains through the end of April because weather can be unpredictable.

Head for the coastal strip of Olympic National Park, for visits to the Hoh River rain forest or a hike at Ozette and Cape Alava, if you want to be snow-free. Weather forecasts call for sunny, warm days. Might be time to play hooky.