News Release

Devils Tower Seeks Comments on Accessibility Improvement Project

Date: November 9, 2018
Contact: Joe Bruce, 307-467-5283 x637

Devils Tower National Monument, Crook County Wyoming, is proposing an Accessibility Improvement Project to address accessibility, safety, and operational issues within the main visitor use areas at Devils Tower National Monument (the Monument). The Monument received nearly 500,000 visitors in 2017, with the highest concentration of visitor use occurring at the Monument visitor center and along the Tower Trail, which is accessed from the visitor center. The current design of this area does not provide adequate facilities or activities for visitors with mobility, sensory, and cognitive disabilities. It also creates congestion in the parking area, leading to conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians, and park activities. Therefore, improvements are needed to meet modern code requirements and federal accessibility standards and to reduce congestion and improve safety in the parking area.

 

The proposed action would consist of redesigning visitor facilities to improve accessibility from the point of arrival in a vehicle at the parking lot, up to the main Monument viewing area at the “Y” of the Tower Trail. Specifically, the NPS is proposing to rehabilitate or build the following facilities designed to meet national accessibility standards:

• a new accessible segment of the Tower Trail, from the trailhead to the main viewing area at the Y, where the Tower Trail loop begins
• four new visitor spaces (i.e., plazas) including one at the visitor center and three along the Tower Trail
• 12 new wayside exhibits along the Tower Trail and new plazas, some of which would include tactile displays
• new accessible restrooms
• enhanced access routes and pathways to the Tower trailhead, visitor center, and climber registration office
• new accessible entrance to the visitor center
• new accessible exhibits inside the visitor center;
• new crosswalks throughout the upper and lower parking areas to encourage safer
• pedestrian crossings
• additional accessible parking spaces and a vehicular drop-off area near the climber registration office
• formalization of the lower visitor center parking lot to increase flow and number of available parking spaces and reduce user conflicts in the parking lot

 

You can learn about the project by reading the Environmental Assessment (EA) developed for

the project. The EA will be available for public review and comment beginning November 9,

2018 and concluding December 16, 2018.

 

To view the EA and submit comments electronically, please visit: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/DETO If you are unable to access this website, hard copies of the EA are available for review at the Monument’s administration building. Written comments can be hand delivered to this building as well. You may also submit written comments to:

Attn: Superintendent

Devils Tower National Monument

P.O. Box 10

Devils Tower, WY 82714

Comments will not be accepted over the phone, by fax, or e-mail. Please provide all comments

by December 16, 2018.

 

Engaging with you is a critical part of the planning process. Before including a personal address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in written comments, anyone providing written comment should be aware their entire comment – including their personally identifiable information – may be made publicly available at any time. While anyone wishing to comment may ask the National Park Service (NPS) in their comment to withhold their personally identifiable information from public review, the NPS cannot guarantee it will be able to do so.

 

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for more than 400 parks in the National Park System and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov/deto, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/devilstower.nps, Instagram www.instagram.com/devilstowernps, and Twitter at https://twitter.com/devilstowernm.