US Goverment Shutdown

Following the announcement of a United States federal government shutdown on October 1st, we are closely monitoring the situation and currently advise our clients as follows.

Most National Parks remain as accessible as possible, according to a federal government contingency plan posted Tuesday evening. However, some services may be limited or unavailable.

For example, open-air sites should remain open to the public; however, buildings that require staffing, such as visitor centres or sites like the Washington Monument, will be closed. Basic visitor services such as “restrooms and sanitation, trash collection, road maintenance, campground operations, law enforcement and emergency operations, and staffing entrance gates” should continue in most cases. The plan also states that “as a general rule, if a facility or area is locked or secured during non-business hours, it will likely be locked or secured for the duration of the shutdown.”

The contingency plans specify that park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will remain open; however, emergency services will be limited.

As such, we advise our clients to carry food and water with them and to use bathroom facilities before entering a National Park. Again, many bathroom facilities within the park should remain open, as these are generally not locked overnight.

During previous lockdowns, it has been known for individual States to cover the costs of parks remaining fully open. Utah did this in the last shutdown, as one example. However, at this time, we are not aware of any States stepping up in this way.

As for National Park hotels, these are operated by private companies and thus should be mostly unaffected by the shutdown.

Concerning flights home, while the shutdown continues, it is prudent to allow additional time at the airport, such as arriving 4 hours before departure instead of the regular 3 hours.

As this situation is evolving, please visit the National Park Service homepage at NPS.gov (U.S. National Park Service)and doi.gov/shutdown for the most up-to-date information. Each park also has a website and social media accounts, so be sure to check these before visiting also.

Lastly, the duration of a shutdown is hard to predict. In the past, some shutdowns have lasted just a few days, while others, like the one in 2018, went on for more than a month. We’ll continue to monitor the situation closely and advise accordingly as the situation progresses. Feedback from clients currently on the road will be invaluable, so please feel free to share any learnings with us so that we can pass them on.