Olympic National Park to demolish vacation cabins threatened by erosion
Olympic National Park has hired a Port Angeles contractor to remove 10 cabins surrounding Kalaloch Lodge because beach erosion has made them structurally compromised, the park announced this month.
The cabins — about a quarter of the cabin accommodations at the site north of the Quinault reservation on U.S. Highway 101 — are within 5 meters of the bluff edge and the park says they are unsafe for occupancy. All have been closed to the public since Jan. 1.
The main Kalaloch Lodge is not threatened.
“We are sorry to say goodbye to these cabins, but visitor safety must come first,” said Deputy Superintendent Kevin Killian in a statement. “Even without the cabins, the experience of visiting this wild coastline will endure.”
A combination of King Tides, strong winter storms, and freeze-thaw events have eroded the bluff beneath the cabins. More than 4 meters of bluff sloughed off in some areas between December and January alone.
The bluff’s loose composition of sand, gravel, and stone makes it especially vulnerable to erosion from waves and that has been exacerbated by soaking rains and recent freeze-thaw events, according to the park. The saturated material expands when frozen and becomes weaker when it thaws.
Bluff erosion is a natural process that has accelerated over the last 10 years, the park says.
Kalaloch is one of the most popular spots in Olympic National Park with about 700,000 visitors per year.
