PUBLIC LANDS - Here's a new road closure notice from the Cle Elum Ranger District that could impact elk hunters setting up camps before the modern rifle season opens next weekend:

Due to a scheduling conflict with the paving company, Forest Service Road Number 33, also known as Taneum Road, will be closed on October 28 for paving instead of the previously planned dates of Oct. 26 and 27.

The road will be closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on October 28,” said Assistant Forest Engineer Marjory Hutchinson.  “We are sorry about any confusion or inconvenience this may cause forest visitors, but once the paving is done all the flood repair work will be completed and the road will be open to forest users.”

During the road closure forest visitors can access the Taneum area by using Cle Elum Ridge Road No. 3350 or Manastash Road No. 31 than traveling north on roads 3111, 3120 or 3330. 

A portion of Road 33 washed away in a flood in 2011.  During the summer, crews reconstructed and repaired the road; paving is the last step of the repair process.

For more information, or directions around the road closure area, contact the Cle Elum Ranger District office at 509-852-1100.