PSA: Sunrise Peak Trailhead inaccessible

[Webfoot]

I just wasted six hours of driving and a beautiful fall Saturday because the bloody useless Forest Service doesn't bother to update their website. Trail #262 page says "Area Status: Open" and the general Current Recreation Conditions says nothing about Forest Road 2324 being closed for logging, but it is.

Other than warning others and needing a place to rant, I'll take this chance to ask is there some other page I could have checked to learn that this road is closed?

[retired jerry]

Yeah, the Forest Service isn't very good at updating their websites. They must be Boomers that aren't very used to the internet

You could check this website or ask here. Or other sites like nwhikers.net.

[johnspeth]

I understand your frustration. I consider USFS web pronouncements to be old and require other supporting evidence to be believed. Our taxpayer dollars at work. Sometimes AllTrails, WTA and maybe others usually have enough recent trip comments that might provide useful info that the USFS fails to share. You can even leave comments yourself. I checked Alltrails and WTA and both don't have comments indicating the road closure.

Rd 2342 was repaired at great expense about 5 years ago. It was closed for several years. When I hiked Sunrise the year after they finally opened it again, I thought how wonderful it was that hikers got something good from a road repair rather than a permanent road closure. As is usually the case, the road was really repaired to haul out the timber, hikers be damned.

If you really want to share your frustration, call the local ranger station and vent. It might even help change things (doubt it though).

[Webfoot]

I actually did check both AllTrails and WTA before leaving, with no indication of a closed road, but such user reports shouldn't have to be the source for planned closure information. If there's not an official page I have missed I do indeed plan to call and give someone an earful.

I am going to try for Sleeping Beauty today. AllTrails has two reports dated "September 30, 2023" and I spied people on top yesterday, so hopefully that's proof it is actually open. (If they close in over night I guess I am just cursed.)

[Webfoot]

Rd 2342 was repaired at great expense about 5 years ago. It was closed for several years. When I hiked Sunrise the year after they finally opened it again, I thought how wonderful it was that hikers got something good from a road repair rather than a permanent road closure. As is usually the case, the road was really repaired to haul out the timber, hikers be damned.

I needed to check my notes before commenting on this. I last attempted to reach this trailhead in July 2017 but was stopped by a huge washout on Forest Road 23, half a mile south of the turn. I believe in that case I had heard of the washout but mile information placed it north of the turn. Anyway this makes two times that I have driven all the way up there only to be disappointed. This time I thought I was crossing the T's and dotting the I's but alas.

[Bosterson]

That is a long drive to do for naught. Are they still doing construction on the road up to Tongue and Juniper? That would another option where you can drive close to the top, since the parking is in the saddle between them, up the side road. But it's at least still a pretty drive out into the Cowlitz River valley in the fall though!

[Webfoot]

Thanks for the suggestion of Tongue and Juniper. Shortest access appears to be through Randle, correct? (I attempted Sunrise Peak from the Trout Lake side.) I am not sure when I will get around to that but you can be sure I'll try really hard to find the current condition.

I just got back from a lovely time at Sleeping Beauty so I am in a much better mood now.

[drm]

Did you call and complain?

[justpeachy]

The Forest Service website SHOULD be a source of helpful up-to-date information, but it's usually not. Also, departments within a ranger district are quite siloed and compartmentalized. It's entirely possible that Recreation wasn't given a heads-up about that road closure and therefore didn't know to alert the website folks.

[drm]

I called and just peachy is correct. The person I got said that logging operations were scheduled to start in early August and did not, and nobody told her that they had. I told her I saw a report that the road was closed for logging and somebody had driven hours to find a closed road. I asked her to confirm and update the website. Two hours later, the trail #261A section for Sunrise Peak (but not 262 Sunrise) starts with: "Forest Road Spur 2324 is closed for logging operations." ( https://www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/gifford ... conditions)

Gifford Pinchot isn't as good as they used to be with the website, but they do try and are usually better than most national forests. I can only hope that somebody got a tongue lashing. But it is always a good idea to have a fallback in the same area. Trees can fall across a road. The entire north side of Mt Adams isn't too far from road 2324 if you came from the south.