Mount Rainier sets the backdrop of Mineral Road South earlier this month near Mineral.
Lewis County commissioners are joining counterparts in Cowlitz and Skamania counties to ask the state Legislature to fund a feasibility study exploring a new road connecting state Route 504 and U.S. Highway 12 — which would drastically shorten drive times between Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens.
“(The road) would open up an important tourist corridor that would result in capturing tourists visiting Mount Rainier who want to also add a visit to Mt. St. Helens tourist facilities,” reads the draft letter received by Lewis County commissioners.
Commissioner Edna Fund said she and her colleagues are likely to sign onto the letter soon.
The document also maps a possible route for the road, which Cowlitz County commissioner Dennis Weber has called a “very rough” first draft. The road would veer northwest from the shore of Coldwater Lake near St. Helens, then swing back northeast after crossing the Green River. Once reaching Winters Mountain, the road would follow the south shore of Riffe Lake, crossing the Cowlitz River near Taidnapam Park.
Unlike previous proposals, the plan would avoid National Forest land and wilderness areas, which had been an obstacle in the past, instead sticking to private timberlands. Mark Smith, who owns Eco Park Resort near Mount St. Helens and has been involved in previous efforts to connect 12 and 504, said the route would use existing logging roads, making them suitable for more vehicle traffic but not requiring carving new roads into the landscape.
“It’s quite an opportunity if we can look at it the right way,” he said.
At present, it takes about 90 miles and two hours of driving to travel from Coldwater Lake to Randle, which are separated by just more than 20 miles as the crow flies. Opening up a direct route between them, advocates believe, will be a boon for tourism, as the long circuit deters many people from visiting Rainier and St. Helens on the same trip.
“You could come up on the Rainier side and visit Rainier, then get on Highway 12 (and connect to St. Helens), and then you’d be able to make a loop,” county commissioner Gary Stamper said earlier this month. “It would bring in a tremendous amount of tourism dollars in our area. … It would be a real bonus to East Lewis County.”
The draft letter, sent from Cowlitz County commissioners, is addressed to Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, and mentions Federal Land Access Program funding may be available to help fund the feasibility study. Asked about the route earlier this month, Orcutt said it would be an uphill battle in the Legislature.
“There’s going to be controversy involved,” he said. “Getting the funding for it is going to be very difficult. There’s going to be some people who are concerned about building a new road anywhere near Mount St. Helens. … One of the things we’d really have to see is what’s the route they’d have to take and how many miles of road are they looking at putting in. What’s the cost going to be?”
