Work starts in the annual clearing to Artist Point. But there’s a delay this year
Spring and summer hiking in the mountains will get a little easier soon, now that snow removal has begun for the last section of Mount Baker Highway to the vista at Artist Point.
But an opening date to Artist Point is uncertain, because of repairs required before final clearing can start, Washington State Department of Transportation spokesman Jordan Longacre told The Bellingham Herald.
WSDOT road crews are clearing the highway, also called State Route 542, from its winter closure at milepost 54.7 to the Terminal Lake parking area at the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, Longacre said in an email.
“We are still working on coordinating with the U.S. Forest Service to move the gate up to the Terminal Lake parking lot, but will not have the road open beyond that location (milepost 55.3),” he said.
Engineers must assess a damaged rock wall on the stretch of highway above Heather Meadows, and then repairs will be made, Longacre said.
“We are waiting for the snow to melt at milepost 55.6 where the crumbling wall is located. We do not have a date set yet to open the road to Artist Point for vehicles, but snow enthusiasts always have access,” he said.
After that, crews will begin removing snow on the final 1.8 miles of road to the parking area at Artist Point, which is part of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
Artist Point, at an altitude of some 5,000 feet, offers a 360-degree view that includes Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan, and the high Cascades peaks. It’s also the starting point for several summer hiking trails and a popular tourist destination.
Mount Baker Highway is closed annually near the ski area’s Heather Meadows base after the first significant snowfall in autumn.
Clearing efforts — which require skip loaders and dump trucks — usually take six to eight weeks.
Some 704 inches — nearly 60 feet — of snow fell over the 2020-2021 season at the nearby Mt. Baker Ski Area, according to the resort’s website.
There’s no admission to the national forest, but parking requires an annual Northwest Forest Pass or a $5 day-use pass, which is available at the Forest Service office on Mount Baker Highway, just east of the mountain village of Glacier.
This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 12:17 PM.
