Rockslide keeps road to Terwilliger Hot Springs closed

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – The main route to the popular Terwilliger Hot Springs east of Eugene will remain closed for another six months because of a rockslide earlier this winter.

The Register-Guard reports there’s enough rock to fill about 800 dump trucks, and federal officials are deciding whether to push the pile toward Cougar Lake or haul it away truckload by truckload.

The McKenzie River Ranger District says most of the 20 to 30 calls coming in per day have been about the closed road, and whether there are other ways to reach the hot springs. Willamette National Forest officials warn that the alternative is slower and riskier.

Some adventurous people have gone past a roadblock and scrambled over the rock pile to reach the hot springs. The Forest Service has been fining those it catches.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com