New resort near Mount Rainier would feature 18-hole course

A new golf resort could be on the way in the Pacific Northwest.

Plans for $200 million resort to serve visitors to Mount Rainier National Park are resurfacing decades after initial approval. The project came back to life with a recent status hearing, and an upcoming decision could put construction in motion 25 years after plans were first announced.

Park Junction Resort at Mount Rainier would be located 11 miles from the park on state Route 706, halfway between Elbe and Ashford. The resort would bring a 270-room hotel with restaurants, two indoor and four outdoor tennis courts, a heated swimming pool, spa and fitness center, according to the resort’s website. Plans also call for a 22,000-square-foot conference center, an 18-hole golf course, a sewer plant and residences.

There’s also a 20,000 to 30,000-square-foot shopping center planned for retail and tourist shops.

The Mt. Rainier Railroad would provide tour and dinner train rides from the resort to Mineral and Elbe, Wash.

The resort, at 420 acres, would bring monumental change to the area and lead to legal battles before its initial hearing and examiner approval.

Over the course of its history, the project has been polarizing for residents in the surrounding communities. Some people worry about a changing landscape and perceived environmental impacts along with the prospects of more traffic on the road to the park entrance that often is congested now.