News Release

El Malpais NM Visitor Center Reduced Days and Hours

Date: October 22, 2017
Contact: Lisa Collins, [phone] ex18

Grants, NM – The National Park Service is planning to reduce the days and hours of operation at the El Malpais Visitor Center (Visitor Center) from seven to five days per week, and from nine hours per day to eight.

Beginning Oct. 31, the Visitor Center will be closed every Tuesday and Wednesday. On Nov. 2, the new hours will take effect, which are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The National Park Service was managing the El Malpais Visitor Center with financial support for staffing and operations from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). However, due to budgetary reductions at the BLM, the agency is no longer able to maintain the cost-sharing agreement.

“We will miss working alongside our valued partners at the Visitor Center, but are committed to working together as public land managers despite this change,” said Superintendent Mitzi Frank.

The public can still obtain free cave permits by self-registering at the visitor center gate. Permits will also be available at the El Morro Visitor Center, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located 42 miles southwest of Grants on NM State Highway 53.
The public can see exhibits in both visitor centers as well as purchase items like flashlights, books, maps, and t-shirts. These purchases from the Western National Parks Association park store help support the National Park Service mission at El Malpais and El Morro National Monuments.

For more information on the El Malpais National Monument, please contact a park ranger at 505-876-2783 or visit www.nps.gov/elma.

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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.