Heart O’ the Hills Campground and Heart O’ the Forest Trail will be closed during construction early next year, Olympic National Park has announced.

The project involves utility upgrades for the Heart O’ the Hills Campground, and the construction effort will require the closure of the campground and nearby trail.  

Olympic National Park awarded a construction contract earlier this fall to rehabilitate water and wastewater systems for the 105-site campground, located five miles south of Port Angeles along Hurricane Ridge Road. 

The contract was awarded to RJS Construction, Inc., a woman- and Native American-owned small business based in Yakima.

Park officials said the majority of site utility work for the $3.1 million project will be subcontracted to Jamestown Excavating of Sequim. 

The work includes the complete replacement of all water distribution piping, rehabilitation of the water treatment and storage infrastructure, jet cleaning and inspection of the sewage collection system, and replacement of the campground’s septic and pump tank.  

“Replacing the water distribution system’s 50-year-old iron pipe with flexible and jointless plastic pipe will eliminate leaks and cut water production in half,” said Olympic National Park engineer Kerri Cook. 

Onsite work is scheduled to take place from February to June 2023. Officials noted the Heart O’ the Hills Campground and Heart O’ the Forest Trail will be closed from March 1 to May 12, 2023, to protect public safety during construction and facilitate timely completion of work.