National Park Rangers Say "Take a Hike" and "Help a Trail" for National Trails Day

Date: June 1, 2016
Contact: Kevin Bacher, Volunteer Program Manager, 360-569-6567

Join Park Rangers for Special Centennial Trails Day Events

The National Park Service invites park lovers to visit Mount Rainier National Park this Saturday, June 4 to celebrate National Trails Day and participate in stewardship events that also honor the National Park Service's centennial.

Winter snow accumulations have started melting out along lower elevation trails, but snow continues to cover high elevation areas of the park. For information about the park's trails and a summary of current conditions, visit our wilderness camping and hiking page at www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/wilderness-camping-and-hiking.htm.

If you venture into the park's backcountry this summer, be prepared for more difficult than usual conditions. As a result of winter storms, trail crews are finding that an exceptional number of trail bridges and foot logs have been washed away. Additionally, winter storms blew down a large number of trees over trails park-wide, with many root ends blocking entire trail widths. Conditions will improve as trail crews restore trails and bridges, but the work will require a considerable amount of time because of the extent of the damage. Visitors are cautioned to use good judgement in determining whether their planned route is safe under existing conditions. Of note: Due to winter damage the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail footbridge is unsafe for passage.

People can assist the park by volunteering in two ways:

• On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 3-5, the Washington Trails Association (WTA) will lead trail maintenance work parties out of the White River Campground. Work crews will meet at 8:30 a.m., and those who wish to participate should sign up in advance by visiting www.wta.org and selecting the "Volunteer" tab. WTA will continue to lead volunteer trail maintenance parties every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through September. Sign up at wta.org. 
• On Saturday June 4, volunteers will be doing restoration work in the Longmire Stewardship Campground. The work involves cleaning up and rehabilitating campsites damaged by a windstorm last November and is suitable for all ages. Participants should RSVP to Kevin Bacher at 360-569-6567 or e-mail us.

National Trails Day is a celebration of America's extensive public trail system, and occurs annually on the first Saturday in June. National Trails Day is an opportunity to participate in trail-based events and activities that celebrate the importance of trails with friends, families, and communities.

To celebrate the centennial, the National Park Service is inviting all generations to discover or rediscover the special places that belong to all Americans. The National Park Service is challenging everyone to "Find Your Park" with creative events and activities throughout 2016. For more information visit: FindYourPark.com.

www.nps.gov 

Park information, announcements, and the Mount Rainier webcams are posted on the park's official website, nps.gov/mora.

• Get additional information and updates by joining the Mount Rainier community on Facebook: facebook.com/MountRainierNPS
• Find out breaking news and road status updates through Mount Rainier's Twitter feed: twitter.com/MountRainierNPS
• Explore the park and behind-the-scenes operations with our videos on YouTube: youtube.com/MountRainierNPS
• Share your own photos of Mount Rainier with other visitors in the Mount Rainier Flickr group: flickr.com/groups/MountRainierNPS

About the National Park Service- More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 409 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities.