On Oct. 1, the federal government began a shutdown after Congress failed to pass a funding bill for fiscal year 2026.
Many federal services and functions will be severely curtailed or put on pause entirely.
About 750,000 federal employees will be furloughed each day, the Congressional Budget Office said, while others who work essential jobs, like Transportation Security Administration agents, air traffic controllers, federal law enforcement officers and members of the military, will be forced to work without pay.
The recent shutdowns have led to some confusion about the public’s access to national parks.
During the last shutdown, in President Donald Trump’s first term, national parks remained open. Trails and outdoor sites stayed open ,and some staff members stayed on to clean restrooms and empty trash cans.
However, many park employees were furloughed, resulting in trash piling up and restrooms filling up with human waste.
For this shutdown, a contingency plan released by the park service late Tuesday said “park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors.”
Parks without “accessible areas” will be closed, and sites currently open could close if damage is done to park resources or garbage is building up, the plan says.
You can read the National Park Service contingency plan here.
The widespread furloughs mean parks that stay open have limited services such as protection of life, property and public safety, the plan says.
The park service workforce is already more depleted than usual. The National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy organization, estimated in July that the park service lost 24% of its permanent staff as a consequence of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Some of those employees have been rehired.
What’s limited at national parks, according to Whittaker Mountaineering:
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Information gaps. Park social feeds and web pages won’t be maintained beyond emergency messaging; you won’t get the usual day-by-day trail or road condition notes. Bring your own intel.
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No new permits. The plan is explicit: no new permits during a lapse. If you were eyeing a technical ascent, treat this as a pause.
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Facilities are offline or minimal. Flush restrooms are closed even in normal times this month (Paradise is having water issues), and trash pickup is not guaranteed; assume you must pack everything out.
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Emergency response exists, but is thin. Law enforcement and life-safety operations continue, but response times can lengthen when most staff are furloughed. Plan and travel more conservatively.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
