Every fall, Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park fills with tourists who come to watch the aspens turn golden, hear the sound of elk trumpets through the valleys, and enjoy the last sunny days before snow piles up on the mountain peaks.
But this year, some of that excitement turned to confusion when news of a government shutdown broke. Hotels and lodges in gateway towns like Estes Park and Grand Lake, Colorado, began to receive a steady stream of calls from travelers asking the same question. “Can I still come?” Many weren’t sure if their long-planned fall trip was still possible.
“Even though we told them the park was open on a limited basis, most people still came out,” said Pat Murphy, owner of Murphy’s Resort and Murphy’s River Lodge in Estes Park. He added: “We actually didn’t lose many bookings.”
Reed Woodford, co-owner of climbing company KMAC Guides, echoed similar sentiments. When we called him, he happened to be writing in his diary at the edge of a meadow in the park, and described the scene there as “normal for this time of year.” He added that although his business is primarily in the mountains outside the park, there haven’t been many cancellations.
Despite significantly reduced ranger numbers and limited services, foliage hunters and wildlife watchers continue to drive Trail Ridge Road and hike the park’s trails. While the Gateway community may not be feeling the effects of the government shutdown yet (now in its fourth week), the parks themselves are.
Are U.S. national parks open during the government shutdown?
“More than 350 of our national parks are open in some capacity,” a National Park Service spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Afar. “This includes many of the nation’s most visited locations. Each park’s situation is determined by its emergency response plans and local conditions, but we are doing everything possible to keep America’s parks accessible and safe for visitors.”
Prior to and shortly after the start of the government shutdown on October 1, groups including the National Park Conservation Association and more than 40 former national park superintendents called on the federal government to close all protected lands during the shutdown.
“National parks do not run themselves. It is the hard-working National Park Service employees who keep them safe, clean, and accessible,” the former superintendents wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum the week before the closure. Without adequate staffing and oversight, visitor safety is at risk and natural and cultural resources, as well as park infrastructure, are at risk of damage and deterioration, they argued.
However, the Department of the Interior ordered NPS to keep roads, trails, and landscapes open to the public while visitor centers, interpretive programs, and many services are closed.
What National Park Services are and are not available during the closure?
During the closure, NPS is required by law to furlough all “non-essential” employees. This means more than 9,000 selected rangers, visitor center staff, maintenance staff and other park employees are out of work. Only a small number of personnel (those essential to health, safety, and property protection) remain on duty, often working long hours without pay. As a result, there is no visitor education, no trail maintenance, no scientific monitoring, and little law enforcement. The park’s website and social media accounts will also be blacked out, fire protection plans will be suspended and wildlife tracking will be halted mid-season. Ongoing projects such as trail restoration and archaeological research remain stalled.
Some parks have been able to continue providing more services because local, state and tribal governments provide funding from their coffers, or nonprofits and businesses donate funds. One example is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which receives additional funding from local and state governments in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies. The most visited protected area in the United States, the park spans two states and covers more than 800 square miles. The cost to keep everything open (including campgrounds, restrooms, visitor centers, etc.) is estimated at about $85,000 per day.
Similarly, Utah currently has five national parks fully open (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion) and receives an estimated $8,000 per day in state funds to operate visitor centers within the parks. But other buildings in Utah’s parks remain closed, with only a small staff of rangers available to visitors to answer questions and issue permits for remote areas. The funds they raise also do not pay for natural resource conservation or research.
How to visit national parks responsibly during closures
For travelers planning a visit to a national park during the closure, the most important thing to do is to travel light, said Jerry James, deputy director of the Sierra Club’s Outdoors for All campaign. With rangers furloughed and services reduced, every visitor action has a huge impact.
Visitors can help by literally following Leave No Trace principles. This means packing up all trash (including food scraps), sticking to established trails to prevent erosion, and avoiding camping or starting campfires in undesignated areas.
Respect for wildlife is especially important right now as there are fewer staff to enforce safe distancing and respond to emergencies. Fall is breeding season for elk in places like Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone, and getting too close can put both humans and animals at risk. Similarly, drivers should slow down and be aware of animals crossing roads that may not be regularly patrolled.
If you notice any damage or unsafe conditions on the trail, please report it to your local visitor center or Friends of the Park group. Many of our nonprofit partners, including Rocky Mountain Conservancy, Friends of Joshua Tree, and Glacier National Park Conservancy, are playing critical roles during the closure by funding restrooms, plowing roads, and supporting volunteer cleaners. Donating to these organizations or participating in Trail Stewardship Day can make a measurable difference.
Potentially lasting impact on America’s parks
The National Park Conservation Association says the park could lose up to $1 million each day the closure continues because visitors can now enter without paying. This is money that typically funds maintenance, staffing, and resource protection.
Overflowing trash cans and littering have also been reported in some parks. In Joshua Tree, a fire broke out near a campground, prompting evacuations and trail closures. Fire brigades are still working, but limited staffing meant delays in communication and fewer rangers to enforce fire regulations, which were said to have contributed to the blaze. Elsewhere, park users are flouting standard rules, from deviating from designated hiking trails to BASE jumping in Yosemite. This practice is illegal in all parks as it poses a significant safety risk to participants and first responders should something go wrong.
“This closure is making an already bad situation in our national parks and public lands even worse, and the longer this situation lasts, the worse it will get,” Emily Thompson, executive director of the Coalition to Defend America’s National Parks, said in a statement following reports of visitor activity at Yosemite. “The situation is dangerous and reckless for our parks, public lands, and the visitors who love them.”
Fortunately, the park’s destruction and disruption has not reached the level of 2018, James said, noting that a 35-day closure in 2018-2019 caused damage such as the destruction of petroglyphs in Big Bend National Park, off-roading through fragile terrain in Death Valley National Park, and the felling of centuries-old Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park.
“However, as someone who has helped with cleanup and trail maintenance, I think it will take several weeks to recover from this period of desertion,” James said. He added that park wardens already have a lot on their plate, following layoffs at the Department of Government Efficiency and a 25% reduction in headcount earlier this year due to an estimated $23 billion maintenance backlog of dilapidated roads, dilapidated trails, crumbling visitor centers and dilapidated sewage systems. The longer the work is delayed, the more the backlog will grow. “If we close further, it could take months or even years for the park to recover.”
