August 22, 2024
SR 20 North Cascades Highway reopens following mudslide clean up between Granite Creek and Easy Pass trailhead
WINTHROP –State Route 20/North Cascades Highway reopened at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22 between Granite Creek and Easy Pass trailhead (milepost 148-157), where the highway had been closed since Aug. 4.
Fire crews continue to work in the area in response to the Easy Fire and a 35 mph advisory speed zone has been posted between milepost 150 and 154. There are no pull outs or passing through in this section and travelers should remain alert for fire and maintenance vehicles exiting and entering the roadway.
Beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 26, there will be flagger-controlled traffic with a pilot car between milepost 150 and 154 so maintenance crews can continue to clear basins and restore drainage. The road will remain open without pilot car during non-working hours.
SR 20 closed between milepost 148 and 157 due to fire on Aug. 4. A week later, a significant mud slide following a rainstorm on Aug. 11 covered several hundred feet of the highway near milepost 152. Crews have since removed approximately 7000 tons of material to clear the roadway.
Road closure information is posted in the WSDOT real-time travel center, @wsdot_east and @wsdot_north on X/Twitter and updates will be provided as available. Wildfire information can be found by visiting the Washington State Department of Natural Resources wildfire incident information webpage.
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There are campground and trail closures within North Cascades National Park Service Complex -- information can be found on the park’s Fire Closures page.
PIONEER FIRE (Chelan County near Stehekin)
7-25-24 -- The Pioneer Fire is impacting the Community of Stehekin, but as Stehekin is not accessible by car, it does not pose any travel restrictions for driving the roadways of the Cascade Loop.
At this time, visitors and residents are asked to evacuate.
FOREST CLOSURE: Current closures for the North Cascades National Park: https://www.nps.gov/noca/index.htm.
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest has a closure order in place for much of the fire area: https://bit.ly/PioneerClosure. Campfires are prohibited.
https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/wases-pioneer
To see Live Traffic see WSDOT's Traffic Map
https://wsdot.com/Travel/Real-time/Map/
To follow fire activity, these public links are updated by the appropriate agencies regularly:
INCIWEB
https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/
Northwest Large Fire Interactive Web Map
https://gacc.nifc.gov/nwcc/firemap.php
Washington Smoke Blog
https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/p/national-interagency-fire-information.html
Chelan County Emergency Management
https://www.facebook.com/CCSOEM/
Okanogan County Emergency Management
https://www.facebook.com/Okanogan.County.Emergency.Management/
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) does an amazing job of keeping our roadways safe and well-maintained. They also are an essential partner in keeping us and our travelers informed about any accidents, closures, or other issues that can impact the normal flow of traffic. Be sure to check out your itinerary using the following resources before you head out!
WSDOT Resources
No one can see the future, but you can plan the best vacation possible with travel alert resources on this page
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Special thanks to Voortex Productions (Follow them on Facebook and Instagram)
and
Jamie Petitto (Follow Jamie on Facebook and Instagram)
