5 REASONS TO NOT VISIT NATIONAL PARKS DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Some nationals parks may be open, but services within them will be very limited to none at all.

Above, the Grand Canyon and the Watchtower on a nearby ridge. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

As such, it may not be a good idea to visit a national park during this period of the #SchumerShutdown.

Michael Bonocore at Resources Magazine gives five reasons why it is best not to visit the national parks now.

He starts with:

At midnight, Saturday January 20th, 2017 the United States government shut down. A government shutdown essentially means, at a high level, most non-critical aspects of the United States government are not operating. Government employees will be furloughed and active-duty military may not get paid. Many of those furloughed are National Park employees, including Park Rangers. But unlike the government shutdown in 2013, this time, National Park gates will remain open, essentially creating a free for all in many of the 278 sites across the country, including every National Park. While this sounds like a victory for those of us who love visiting National Parks, Zion Park Ranger and incredible photographer Christina Adele has reminded people on her Facebook posts that this is actually a very bad, and potentially very dangerous, idea. So I decided to list the reasons why you should do your part to help conserve our National Park Land by avoiding the parks during this shutdown.

To see the five reasons, go here.