Mount Spokane Park Road closing for summer construction

The summer closure of the Mount Spokane State Park Road, which is set to start around July 11, is required for safety during road repairs and resurfacing, says Steve Christensen, park manager.

The recently announced closure plans will prevent public motorized access to the park into October except for condominium owners and people with approved pre-planned events, such as races or volunteer projects.

Otherwise, huckleberry pickers, bird watchers and other visitors will have to park at the main road entrance or at Bear Creek Lodge and walk or ride their mountain bikes in. The trails will be open to bicyclists and hikers, and so will the park campground.

Carolyn Leon of the local Sierra Club chapter suggested the park managers should run mobile solar traffic lights as they did in previous years in order to keep the roads open.

“Makes one wonder if they are trying to deliberately restrict access to the people who oppose the ski expansion,” she said. “Also what would happen if there was an emergency at the condos and you can’t get in or out on the road? Their decision this year to close is not very smart.”

“It’s not my decision,” Christensen said. “It comes down from the engineers who are responsible for safety and liability.”

“There may be only a one way road at times and we don’t have the staff to have somebody there to flag the road and let the public come back and forth.”

During a road project years ago, the park allowed the road to be used by the public on weekends. “The difference is that there were two lanes available,” he said. “And they’ll be putting in a big box culvert.”

The contractor will be given a list of people authorized to come into the park and they will be allowed in only during specified windows of time, he said.

Cris Currie of the Friends of Mount Spokane State Park defended the park managers on Facebook in regard to people protesting the restrictions and asking people to write the State Parks Commission.

“Since there has never been a proper road bed built, it is a big job,” he said. “They will also be resurfacing all the way to the snowmobile parking lot.

“More people are now visiting the park in the summer and will be inconvenienced by the road closure. I would encourage (people) to have patience and realize that we are lucky to get so much attention and money from the state focused on our beloved park.

“The alternative is continued neglect and infrastructure failure…. This summer would be a good time to explore the main entrance trails as well as the Day Road and Blanchard Creek Road entrances.

So, that’s bad news for people used to driving to their sweet spot on Mount Spokane for the views and berries and sights such as wildflowers and wildlife.

But it could be the best year ever for solitude on the upper trails.