Chinook Pass Sees Earliest Closure In Its 90-Year History, Cayuse Also Shut Down For Winter

Two of Washington's high-elevation mountain passes near Mt. Rainier officially closed for the season this morning.

On Thursday, the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that State Route 410 (SR-410) over Chinook Pass and State Route 123 (SR-123) over Cayuse Pass would close at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 24.

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The DOT closes a 17.5-mile stretch of SR-410 between Crystal Mountain Boulevard and Morse Creek, five miles east of the summit, and all 16 miles of SR-123 annually due to persistent heavy snow, increased avalanche risks, and a lack of emergency services.

The decision to close both passes for the winter season was made ahead of an advancing weather system which is expected to bring heavy snowfall to both passes by mid-Friday and through the weekend.

This year's closure of Chinook Pass is the earliest in its 90-year history and happened a week ahead of last year's seasonal closure on Halloween.

Friday's closure of Cayuse Pass was the second earliest since it opened in 1973.

Neither pass closed during the winter of 1976-77.

Both passes opened for the season on May 23 and the DOT typically targets a seasonal re-opening of them by Memorial Day Weekend every May.

The earliest reopening in the history of Chinook Pass was April 2, 2015, while Chinook Pass' earliest reopening was on March 18, 1981.

At 5,430 feet in elevation, Chinook is the third highest of the 13 passes that feature a paved highway in the state, behind only Washington Pass (5,453 feet) and Sherman Pass (5,541 feet), while Cayuse is the fourth highest at 4,833 feet.