Mount Washburn Trail to close next week

Posted 8/1/19

Visitors to Yellowstone National Park will be unable to reach the summit of Mount Washburn next week. The parking areas and trails leading to the Mount Washburn Fire Lookout will be closed from …

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Mount Washburn Trail to close next week

Visitors check out the view from the summit of Mount Washburn on July 5. The summit will be inaccessible from Aug. 6-8 while crews work to replace a deteriorating log crib. From Aug. 9-27 hikers will again be able to reach the summit, but only via the Chittenden trail; the Mount Washburn Trail will be closed during that time.

Photo courtesy Diane Renkin, National Park Service

With the use of a helicopter and cable rigging, crews plan to repair the deteriorating wooden crib wall (pictured on the right side of the path) along the Mount Washburn Trail this month.

Photo courtesy National Park Service

Posted Thursday, August 1, 2019 10:10 am

Visitors to Yellowstone National Park will be unable to reach the summit of Mount Washburn next week. The parking areas and trails leading to the Mount Washburn Fire Lookout will be closed from Tuesday, Aug. 6 through Thursday, Aug. 8.

Starting Friday, Aug. 9, visitors will be able to again reach the summit via the Chittenden Road, but the Mount Washburn Trail and trailhead parking lot will remain closed through Tuesday, Aug. 27. Park officials say the closures are needed while crews replace a deteriorated log structure that supports the trail, repair the Chittenden Road and resurface the fire lookout’s parking area. The work will include a helicopter delivering log pilings to the site.

Some 44,000 pounds of log pilings and concrete, four dump truck loads of asphalt and three loads of gravel are being staged in the Mount Washburn parking lot for the work.