STEPTOE, WA – Delays continue to pile up for reopening Steptoe Butte State Park North of Colfax.

An update posted on the Washington State Parks website this week now announces that the park is set to reopen Friday January 9th weather permitting.  The iconic butte has been closed nearly all year.  The park was closed during February’s flood.  State parks officials then kept the butte closed as a paving project began in May.

Crews have been paving the road to the summit.  Agency officials in Olympia initially expected to reopen the park in October.  That was delayed due to last summer’s strike by the International Union of Operating Engineers local 302.

The parks office then hoped that Steptoe would reopen in November.  That was pushed back to the last reopening date which called for this Monday, December 29th.  Pullman Radio News is still waiting to hear back from a Washington State Parks communications manager to explain what’s causing the latest delay.

The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office cited five people for trespassing into the closed state park last month.