News Release

Canyonlands and Arches Further Modifying Operations to Implement Local Health Guidance

Date: March 27, 2020
Contact: Lynn Mcaloon, 435-210-1799
Contact: Canyonlands Information Line, 435-719-2313
Contact: Arches Information Line, 435-719-2299

MOAB, UT— Arches and Canyonlands national parks announce additional modifications to operations in response to guidance from Southeast Utah Public Health, San Juan Public Health, and Moab Regional Hospital. The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners is our number one priority. The National Park Service (NPS) is working servicewide with federal, state, and local authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective Saturday, March 28, 2020, Arches and Canyonlands national parks will be closed to all park visitors until further notice. All vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians are prohibited from entering any park areas, including campgrounds, trails, backcountry, and roads. Any recreational use of the parks is in violation of this closure. We regret any inconvenience or hardship this may cause. 

The NPS encourages people to take advantage of the many digital tools already available to explore these parks, including:   

• Watching the Canyonlands park film and other short videos at https://www.nps.gov/cany/learn/photosmultimedia/multimedia.htm
• Wandering through Arches’ wildflowers gallery at https://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/nature/wildflowers.htm
• Perusing the albums of photos on parks’ websites and Flickr accounts, such as https://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/photosmultimedia/index.htm and https://www.flickr.com/photos/canyonlandsnps/albums
• Revisiting their own photo albums from past visits, sharing treasured memories with family and friends.

Visitors with camping or Fiery Furnace tour reservations impacted by this closure may cancel or reschedule online at www.Recreation.gov, or by calling [phone].

We will continue to provide updates and will notify the public when we resume full operations on park social media channels and these two web pages:

• https://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/public_health_update.htm
• https://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/public_health_update.htm

Updates about general NPS operations will be posted on www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

For additional information about Southeast Utah Group parks, visit our websites: 

Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument