Greater access has returned to Death Valley National Park, including the road to the Race Track/Kurt Repanshek file

Though some states are seeing spikes in Covid-19 cases, more parks are reopening access to the public. Death Valley National Park has reopened more campgrounds, Zion National Park plans to resume its shuttles this week, and Canyon Mouth Park at Little River Canyon National Preserve is back in business.

At Death Valley, roads, trailheads, restrooms, and overlooks, including the Badwater Road, Dante’s View, Artist Drive, Golden Canyon, and Ubehebe Crater all have reopened. Backcountry roads also are open again, including roads to Saline Valley, the Racetrack, and Titus Canyon.

Devils Hole, a detached unit of the park located in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, also is open to visitors. The following campgrounds also are open:

• Furnace Creek Campground (group and tent sites will remain closed).
• Thorndike, Mahogany Flats, Wildrose, Emigrant, Homestake Dry Camp, Eureka, and Saline Valley Campgrounds.
• Areas where dispersed backcountry camping is allowed per regulations.

Still closed at this time are the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station, and all warm springs. Scotty’s Castle Road remains closed into Grapevine Canyon due to flood damage in October 2015. 

“While enjoying Death Valley National Park, remember to recreate responsibly by maintaining social distance and avoiding high risk activities,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “It’s summer in Death Valley, so avoid hiking at lower elevations after 10 a.m. and carry plenty of water. Using extra caution during your visit reduces the strain on local medical resources.”

Shuttle bus service is scheduled to return to Zion Canyon on Wednesday/Kurt Repanshek file

Zion National Park, meanwhile, planned to resume shuttle bus service into the park's iconic canyon on Wednesday despite Utah's heavy Covid-19 caseload. On Friday the state reported 479 new cases, which was down from 553 the day before. The seven-day average through Friday for daily new cases was 511, the state reported.

At Little River Canyon in Alabama, the Canyon Mouth Park reopened Monday. The area is a popular picnicking, swimming, and kayaking location at the southern end of the national preserve. It's where the Little River exits Little River Canyon and goes from whitewater rapids to a calm, serene river before exiting the park.

Canyon Mouth Park was initially closed on April 3 in line with Alabama Department of Public Health guidance on COVID-19 precautions. On April 12, a storm with heavy rainfall brought the Little River to 34,300 cubic feet per second, causing massive amounts of damage to the park. The floodwaters, which had water flowing over the entirety of Canyon Mouth Park, washed picnic tables, garbage and recycling bins, and split-rail fencing from their foundations, some of which were mostly buried in sand deposits alongside and in the river.

Mulch from around the new playground equipment was carried hundreds of feet away, and Canyon Mouth Trail received heavy erosion damage - portions of the trail were under 6-plus feet of water. The floodwaters also broke some iron charcoal grills off at their cemented base and destroyed one soccer goal, which was wrapped around a tree down river.

National Park Service staff, alongside Youth Conservation Corps workers who began working at Little River Canyon National Preserve on Tuesday, June 16, have been working hard to clean up and repair Canyon Mouth Park.

Muir Woods National Monument reopened Monday/Kurt Repanshek file

Also on Monday visitors could return to Muir Woods National Monument north of San Francisco. The park is to be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Parking requires an advanced reservation. Park entrance fees would be collected, and limited food and gift services were to be available.

“Muir Woods is a special place, unlike any other within the San Francisco Bay Area. We are delighted to welcome visitors back to be inspired by this old-growth coast redwood forest and enjoy this wonderful unit of the National Park System,” said Superintendent Laura E. Joss. “We have worked hard to ensure the safety of our staff and visitors, while preserving the unique visitor experience that only a primeval landscape like Muir Woods can offer.”

Some restrictions were to be in place:

• To minimize crowding and group gathering, no park ranger tours or talks will be offered. The Muir Woods staff will focus on greeting and orienting visitors.
• The Muir Woods trail system is ideal for safe distancing. The park is instituting a one-way direction of travel on some trails to minimize close contact. Signs will assist visitors with safety tips on ways to socially distance.
• The parking reservation capacity has been reduced by approximately 50% to allow for increased social distancing. As a result, visitors will have a quiet and uncrowded experience exploring the forest.
• All buses and RVs smaller than 30 feet will be managed within the existing parking reservation system.
• There will be no Muir Woods shuttle – it has been suspended to minimize visitor exposure in confined spaces. The park is working closely with Marin Transit on other options to provide transportation service for visitors traveling without cars.

Restrooms were to remain open for visitors to use during their time at Muir Woods.

Visitors must make parking reservations through GoMuirWoods.com ahead of their visit and are strongly encouraged to prepay their entrance fee through this website. The park entrance fee is $15 for adults and the standard vehicle reservation fee is $8.50.

At Canyonlands National Park in Utah, first-come/first-served camping is set to resume Wednesday at Island in the Sky and The Needles districts. Three group campsites at The Needles will open for reservations on July 1, but the largest group site (capacity 41-50) will remain closed until further notice. Some standard campsites at The Needles will be available for advance reservations in September/October. Reservations must be made through www.Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777.

On July 19, camping is expected to resume at Devils Garden Campground in Arches National Park, also in Utah. All standard campsites and both group sites will be fully reservable through www.Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777.

In North Dakota at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the South Unit Visitor Center in Medora will reopen Wednesday for information services and bookstore sales. The North Unit, South Unit, and Elkhorn Ranch Unit are all open for recreational access.

Additionally, the following facilities and spaces are open and accessible:

• All trails and trailheads
• All picnic areas
• All toilet facilities
• Backcountry camping (permit available on park website)
• All North and South Unit roads with the exception of road failure section on the former scenic loop in the South Unit between mile marker 24-28

With public health in mind, the following facilities at Theodore Roosevelt remain closed at this time:

• North Unit Juniper Campground and group sites
• North Unit Contact Station
• Painted Canyon Visitor Center
• South Unit Cottonwood Campground and group sites
• Roundup Horse Camp group site

Elsewhere in the National Park System:

• Vicksburg National Military Park has reopened access to vehicle use of the park tour road and pedestrian access to the Vicksburg National Cemetery.
• First Ladies National Historic Site on Tuesday will reopen access to the Education and Research Center, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday
• James A. Garfield National Historic Site on Wednesday will reopen access to the visitor center, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday – Sunday.
• Manhattan Project National Historical Park, at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on July 2 will reopen access to the visitor contact center, located at Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge (CMOR). The Children’s Museum is located at 461 W. Outer Drive, Oak Ridge.
• Dinosaur  National Monument on Tuesday plans to reopen the Canyon Visitor Center near Dinosaur, Colorado and the Quarry Visitor Center and Quarry Exhibit Hall near Jensen, Utah. The visitor centers are to be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and the Exhibit Hall from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. daily for this summer. Theaters in the monument visitor centers will remain closed at this time and the film will not be available. Visitors will be able to access exhibits, a staffed information desk, and sales outlets for the Intermountain Natural History Association.

Capacity on the shuttle to the Quarry Visitor Center on the Utah side of the monument will be set at 30 people entering every 15 minutes to allow for recommended social distancing between groups. Parking capacity at the Quarry Visitor Center will also be closely monitored to manage facility capacity.

• Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in California plan to resume more visitor activities beginning July 6. On that day camping returns to the Potwisha, Lodgepole and Sunset campgrounds for those with reservations. The reservation site www.recreation.gov went live Monday morning (June 29) for sites at those campgrounds. Reservations for these three campgrounds will be available through summer, with more campgrounds being added as conditions allow in the coming weeks and months. Announcements will be made when more campgrounds are ready to be added. No walk-up camping will be available this summer. Refer to to the parks' website for more information about reservations and changes to availability this summer.

Details on previous park openings can be found at this page.