PORT ANGELES – Olympic National Park announced Friday the full length of the Spruce Railroad Trail is now open following the latest phase of improvements. This latest phase included bank stabilization, culvert installation, and trail improvements matching the one-mile section completed last year from the Lyre River Trailhead to the newly restored McFee Tunnel.
The Spruce Railroad Trail improvements are part of a multi-year project to establish the entire 10-mile length of the trail as a universally accessible, multipurpose trail to be shared by hikers, bicyclists, equestrians and people traveling in wheelchairs. Clallam County and Olympic National Park are jointly funding the project.
Future work will include paving the Lyre River Trailhead parking lot, restoring the Daley Rankin Tunnel, and finishing the remaining trail improvements. Paving the length of the trail will occur in the final phase. Work will resume in October 2018 west of the Daley Rankin Tunnel to complete retaining wall work.
The Spruce Railroad Trail follows the historic railroad grade of the Spruce Railroad, built in 1918 and abandoned in 1951. When the project is completed in 2019 it will become a signature piece of the 134-mile long Olympic Discovery Trail that will eventually connect Port Townsend to La Push—Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean.