While some associate the country’s 63 national parks with untouched nature, a large amount of upkeep and maintenance is necessary to keep up with the rising number of visitors who pass through them every day.
At the start of the year, Congress heard about the repairs that are necessary to maintain roads and parking spaces, keep different structures in the parks working properly, and keep up with damage caused by visitors. While in 2020 the National Park Service (NPS) said it required $13 billion to address the maintenance backlog, that number is now at $22 billion.
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While the money allocated to the NPS will be re-examined with the expiration and necessary renewal of a public lands maintenance fund in 2025, the NPS is currently working on a number of construction projects that will affect when visitors can come to certain parks.
These national park areas will be closed for repairs during the summer
Great Basin National Park, which sits at the border of Nevada and Utah, will be undergoing five construction projects throughout the summer and fall — a major project that will temporarily close certain entrances, parking areas and campgrounds. As the NPS works on the park’s water and wastewater systems, the upper parking lot, amphitheater, and picnic area around Lehman Caves Visitor Center will be closed for one month during the summer (the exact date will be announced later in the season as the timeline of the repairs becomes more clear.)
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“I am excited to see such a significant investment in the park’s vital infrastructure, but I recognize that many visitors will be affected by the work going on this summer,” Great Basin National Park Superintendent Ashley Adams said in a statement. “I ask everyone to have patience and understanding as we strive today to improve the visitor experience at Great Basin for generations to come.”
On May 28, Lower Lehman Creek Campground will close until the fall as construction crews expand it to have 20 sites instead of the existing 11. Electrical works at Lehman Caves will mean that the popular Grand Palace Tour will not be available until June 9 while Bristlecone Trailhead and Wheeler Peak Campground will only be available until July at which point they will be shut down for the season.
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‘Expect periods of one-way traffic control and temporary closures of park roads’
“From early July through early September, visitors can expect periods of one-way traffic control and temporary closures of park roads, campgrounds, and parking lots, as the park’s paved roads and parking lots will be chip-sealed, microsurfaced, patched, and crack-sealed, extending the life of the pavement and improving driving conditions,” the NPS writes further.
According to the NPS, Great Basin National Park brings in over 145,000 visitors each year. This construction project is one of the largest currently happening in all the parks. Over in Tennessee, the Ramsay Cascades Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is closed to visitors Monday through Thursday until November as repair crews conduct work on trail surfaces, turnpikes and drainage areas but those who want to use the trail still have three days of the week in which they can do so.
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