Mary’s Peak Road Closes at West Point Gate

Contact:
Mike Harvey 541.750.7046
Joni Quarnstrom 541.750.7075

November 13, 2009

Corvallis, OR – Snow and icy conditions on the road to the top of Marys Peak prompted Forest officials to close the gate at West Point citing concerns for public safety. The seasonal road closure, which was initiated in 2000, used to run between December 1 and March 31.

“We heard from Marys Peak visitors that our gate closure policy was too restrictive, keeping people off of the Peak during unusually warm spells and also keeping recreationists too far from the snow,” said Mike Harvey, Siuslaw National Forest recreation staff officer.

A new policy of letting safety conditions dictate when the lower Conner’s Camp gate will be opened and closed was initiated in response. In 2007, the Forest installed a new upper gate near West Point, approximately one and a half miles from the top of the Peak, to improve people’s ability to find snow. A lower gate located at Connor’s Camp, installed in 1998 still closes when conditions warrant. The new policy of opening the gate when weather permits has been a success.

“Last winter, weather conditions allowed us to use the upper gate as hoped,” said Harvey. “There were a number of times throughout the winter that the road between Conner’s Camp gate and West Point gate was snow-free allowing visitors to safely drive to a higher elevation and better access to snow,” he added.

Forest officials will continue to monitor the situation and the lower Conner’s Camp gate will be opened and closed as weather dictates.

For more information on gate closure status visit the Siuslaw National Forest web site at www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw or twitter.com\siuslawNF.