Spring is Here: All Areas Closed to Snowmachines, Temporary ORV Trail Closures in Cantwell

Date: March 21, 2016
Contact: Maureen McLaughlin, [phone]

Denali National Park and Preserve Superintendent Don Striker has determined that due to the deterioration of the snowpack, there is no longer adequate snow cover for the use of snowmobiles for traditional activities in the 1980 additions to Denali National Park and Preserve on both sides of the Alaska Range. All park lands that were open for snowmobile use are now closed for the season. Even in areas such as Broad Pass and near Cantwell, the warmer temperatures and long days have reduced snow depths to a level that is no longer adequate to protect vegetation and soils from damage by snowmachine use.

All lands within the former Mount McKinley National Park on both the north and the south sides of the crest of the Alaska Range are closed to all snowmobile use throughout the winter by federal regulation.

Effective immediately, the Windy Creek Trail, Cantwell Airstrip Trail, Pyramid Trail, Cantwell Creek Floodplain Trail/Corridor, and the Bull River Floodplain Trail/Route are temporarily closed by regulation (36CFR 13.903 and 13.460) to the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) by authorized subsistence users in order to protect vegetation and soils from damage. The temporary closure will allow the trails to dry in order to sustain ORV traffic. These trails could re-open for use on June 15, 2015, conditions permitting. Check out a map of the trails in question.

Additional park information is available on the web at www.nps.gov/dena or by calling 907-683-9532 from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm daily.