BLM closes Wickersham Dome Trailhead Oct. 1 for construction

Hikers and riders headed for the Summit Trail or Wickersham Creek Trail will lose access from the Wickersham Dome Trailhead starting Thursday, Oct. 1. The Bureau of Land Management's Eastern Interior Field Office is closing the trailhead in the White Mountains National Recreation Area through Oct. 21, or until construction is complete for the season, according to the agency's announcement.

Neither trail can be reached from the trailhead during the closure, the agency said. BLM materials place the trailhead at about mile 28 of the Elliott Highway and describe it as a principal access point to the recreation area. The trailhead normally provides access to the Ski Loop Trail as well, in addition to the Summit Trail, which reaches Wickersham Dome, and the Wickersham Creek Trail, which leads toward Lee's Cabin.

Wickersham Creek Trail and Lee's Cabin can still be reached from milepost 23.5 of the Elliott Highway. The first half mile of that route is a right-of-way easement, a legal path across private property. The BLM asked travelers to be respectful on that stretch. The agency lists no alternate access for the Summit Trail during the closure.

Contractors will expand the parking lot, widen the entrance road, shift the motorized and non-motorized trails and replace the single vault toilet with two, according to the agency. The work will not finish this fall. The BLM expects one more temporary closure in May 2027 to complete the project.

Signs will be posted at the entrance of the parking lot. BLM law enforcement rangers and other employees may be in the area to enforce the closure.

The BLM announcement includes a closure map. Updates will be posted on the White Mountains Trail Conditions page. The Fairbanks BLM Public Room takes questions at 907-474-2200.