National Parks

**luke79** · 05-08-2020, 07:39 PM

Does anyone know the timeline when the national parks will reopen? Also when it says that a national park is closed does that mean campgrounds within National Park or everything including hiking?

I honestly don't care about various services like lodges or restaurants, but I want to get out there finally and hike.

Thanks.

**Overtaxed** · 05-08-2020, 07:51 PM

It depends on the park AFAIK. The Smokies, when I was up there a few weeks ago, are really "closed". The roads that go in aren't open. You could still hike if you could get to the trail from another road, but you couldn't drive through.

This is about the craziest of all the restrictions to date. If you want to hike, you may have to go to a trail outside the park. Guess what? You're not the first person to have this idea, the trails outside of the parks are CRAZY busy. I've never seen anything like it. And, also totally predictable, close/prevent access to 1/2 the trails in the country, well, guess what? The remaining trails are like the entry line at the Superbowl. (OK, not even close to that bad, but I've taken to hiking really out of the way places now because there are FAR too many people on the relatively popular trails to give me comfortable distance).

**luke79** · 05-08-2020, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by Overtaxed

It depends on the park AFAIK. The Smokies, when I was up there a few weeks ago, are really "closed". The roads that go in aren't open. You could still hike if you could get to the trail from another road, but you couldn't drive through.

This is about the craziest of all the restrictions to date. If you want to hike, you may have to go to a trail outside the park. Guess what? You're not the first person to have this idea, the trails outside of the parks are CRAZY busy. I've never seen anything like it. And, also totally predictable, close/prevent access to 1/2 the trails in the country, well, guess what? The remaining trails are like the entry line at the Superbowl. (OK, not even close to that bad, but I've taken to hiking really out of the way places now because there are FAR too many people on the relatively popular trails to give me comfortable distance).

That's what I thought, I was just hoping for better news I guess. The restrictions on NPS are in my opinion unnecessary, I could understand closing of lodges, restaurants, and maybe some special POI like Old Faithful so that people don't congregate.

**tjndsa** · 05-08-2020, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by luke79

That's what I thought, I was just hoping for better news I guess. The restrictions on NPS are in my opinion unnecessary, I could understand closing of lodges, restaurants, and maybe some special POI like Old Faithful so that people don't congregate.

I live in WNC. GSMNP is opening tomorrow and is opening 441 through the park. I do believe, though, that the welcome centers and some of the restrooms will still be closed.

**ScopesNC** · 05-08-2020, 11:05 PM

Grand Tetons open June 2nd. The Teton lodges are closed all season. Boats ramps and restaurants also. I have no idea why they would close the boat ramps. Most everything else is open .
Most parts of Yellowstone in June.

**Wicked ace** · 05-09-2020, 04:49 AM

I believe this is what the OP was looking for.
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/pub...lth-update.htm

**Overtaxed** · 05-09-2020, 06:12 AM

Originally Posted by tjndsa

I live in WNC. GSMNP is opening tomorrow and is opening 441 through the park. I do believe, though, that the welcome centers and some of the restrooms will still be closed.

I wasn't aware of that, great news! Keeping the welcome centers and restrooms closed, that makes sense to me. Closing 441?! Or the loop roads through Yellowstone? That, to me, if anything, makes the problem worse. The Smokies were closed where the national forests that surround it were not, so, very predictably, the NF trails were nuts when we were over your way a few weeks ago. We were in River Vista and Creekwood Farms this year, both over your way (and both nice places, if anyone is interested; and OPEN, also important).

Also great news on the Tetons and Yellowstone. The Tetons, I've never seen crowding there, it's very open and a lot of different things to see/do, seems to keep the crowds down. Yellowstone, that's a different story, I hope they open with a "no buses" restriction, there are areas of Yellowstone (Old Faithful!) that are like Manhattan at 5:15PM, it's crazy crowded. They need to get people to disperse to the trails and the pull offs in less popular areas (south of the lake seems to always be dead) to be safe there.

**xrated** · 05-09-2020, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by tjndsa

I live in WNC. GSMNP is opening tomorrow and is opening 441 through the park. I do believe, though, that the welcome centers and some of the restrooms will still be closed.

Campgrounds in the GSMNP will also remain closed during the Phase 1 reopening. They said that if things progressed as they hope it will, the campgrounds will eventually reopen, but I don't think they've given a timeline for when that will happen.