Main road into Hoh Rainforest set to reopen this week after months-long closure

The main road into the Hoh Rainforest is set to reopen on Thursday after being closed since December.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson made the announcement on social media Monday.

After months of waiting and wondering when the road might reopen, businesses close to the Hoh are celebrating.

“Oh, we're excited,” said Katelyn Peterson, manager of the nearby Hoh River Cabins. “[We've] had a lot of cancellations due to the road being closed.”

Jefferson County has been busy repairing the Upper Hoh Road since part of it collapsed in December due to heavy rains.

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Nearly 460,000 people visited the Hoh Rainforest in 2024, according to the National Park Service. Whether the road, a popular drive in Washington's Olympic National Park, would be drivable in time for this year's busy season was not certain.

“We're such a small town that any sort of delay, it really affects our small tourist town,” said Trent Thurman, owner of Miller Tree Inn in Forks. “To hear the news — we're just excited.”

While resorts and businesses in the area have been open, many get the bulk of their reservations thanks to the rainforest. The uncertainty of whether or not the Hoh would be accessible this summer put a damper on bookings, according to some business owners in the area.

“We did have a fair amount of cancellations this past winter because of it not being open, so it definitely affected our bottom line for sure,” Thurman said.

He said he visited the closed route over the winter to see the damage firsthand, and indeed, “it was substantial, definitely enough where you know it's a safety issue.”

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The Miller Tree Inn and Hoh River Cabins are two businesses in the area that donated money to help with repairs. That was on top of over half a million dollars directed by Ferguson in March to fix the road.

“We wanted to make it happen,” Thurman said. “It was a very small investment to make for this to potentially and hopefully reopen the Hoh, so we were more than happy to give.”

Peterson said it’s nice to see their efforts were worth it.

Businesses in the area have experienced small road closures before, especially during rainy winters. But a closed Upper Hoh Road over the summer would mean seriously bad news for the rental cabins and restaurants that depend on campers and hikers.

“It’s such a wonderful place to visit,” Thurman said, “and it’s such an important part of our economy here.”