Date: June 9, 2017
Contact: John Lewis, 435-719-2150
The Devils Garden area of Arches National Park, including access to area hiking trails, is scheduled to reopen Friday, June 16th, at 7:00 a.m. after having been closed several weeks for needed road work.
Devils Garden Campground remains closed through November 30, 2017.
The Fiery Furnace and Salt Valley Overlook areas are scheduled to close on Sunday, June 18th, at 7:00 p.m. for up to 28 days. During the closure period, these parking and hiking areas will be inaccessible and self-guided permits and ranger-led tours of the Fiery Furnace will not be available.
Work along and around the park entrance road will soon be complete and work crews plan to be out of the area by Friday, June 23rd. At that time, the night closure barricade will move from the junction of the main park road and Highway 191 to near the visitor center. Visitors waiting for the park to open at 7:00 a.m. must park and wait in the visitor parking lot and not on the roadway.
Beginning Friday, June 23rd the park’s visitor center hours will increase to 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and park rangers will present nightly evening programs at the visitor center at 7:00 p.m. Evening program topic information can be obtained in person at the visitor center.
A reminder: Sunday through Thursday, visitors must arrive at the park before 6:30 p.m. Visitors arriving after 6:30 p.m. on those days will not be able to travel past the visitor center. All vehicles must be out of the closure area no later than 7:00 p.m.
The park reopens at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday, and is open weekends from 7:00 a.m. Friday until 7:00 p.m. Sunday during this road construction project.
The park will be open with no road construction work on the following holiday weekends:
Independence Day: 7:00 a.m. Monday, July 3rd to 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 5th
Pioneer Day: 7:00 a.m. Friday, July 21st to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 25th
Labor Day: 7:00 a.m. Friday, September 1st to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 5th.
Utah Education Association : 7:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 18th to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, October 22nd
Other areas of Arches National Park, such as The Windows Section, will be closed for up to four weeks once work begins in each of those areas. The park will reopen roads and trails once area construction work is completed. Given the many variables that can impact road projects of this type and scope, work dates are subject to change.
Road work is resurfacing, restoring, and rehabilitating approximately 23 miles of roads and pullouts in Arches National Park along the entrance road (from US Highway 191 to the visitor center), main park road, the campground road, and other spur roads and loops. Road work is scheduled to last through November.
Limited daytime road closures may still occur even with nighttime work. Construction crews will use pilot cars and flaggers to control traffic during the day. When partial daytime road closures are in effect, crews will limit traffic delays to 30 minutes or less per work zone.
While construction crews will make every effort to minimize disruption to visitor daytime travel and activities during this project, visitors should expect frequent delays and closures.
The park will post road construction updates on its official website as they become available. However, construction work schedules are subject to change.
Visitors to the Moab area can find a wide variety of spectacular scenery and hikes in other public lands around the region. Information about these other travel and hiking options can be found on the Moab Travel Council’s website: http://www.discovermoab.com/profile.htm.
General information about Arches National Park can be found at www.nps.gov/arch or by calling 435-719-2299. Information about the other three national parks of the Southeast Utah Group may be obtained from each of their websites at:
About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 417 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.
