Memorial Day Weekend: Not Business As Usual

Above, Ear of the Wind Arch in Monument Valley. Monument Valley Tribal Park remains closed. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Memorial Day weekend this year will not be your typical one.

With most recreational venues closed or open partially, thanks to the coronavirus, perhaps it would be best to just stay home.

The Colorado Springs Independent has an article that provides information on what's open and what's not this Memorial Day weekend.

They begin with:

Memorial Day weekend is often thought of as the unofficial start of summer, with families heading out to lakes, mountains and campgrounds to enjoy being outdoors. Typically, schools that might still be in session, would be wrapping up the school year, and parents are usually finalizing their summer vacation plans. 

This year's Memorial Day weekend is different, with COVID-19 restrictions still lingering in many places, even while businesses and governments try to find a path back to normalcy.  The combination of a huge swath of the population not working, and many outdoor destinations being closed or declared off-limits to non-residents, has put a tremendous strain on parks and trails that have remained open during this pandemic. And while there may have been some hope that popular destinations would be re-opened by the holiday weekend, it's beginning to look like that won't be the case, in what appears to be a conscious effort by some land managers to delay re-openings until after the holiday. Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is still asking residents to be "safer at home" and not travel more than 10 miles from where they live unless absolutely necessary.

They then provide a summary of what's open and what's not.

To read more, go here.