For installation of large tents to support the event, from 7:00 am Wednesday October 22, 2025 through 5:00 pm Friday October 24, 2025, the Carter Barron box office and surrounding areas including the loop road will be closed to the public to protect public safety during the operation of heavy trucks, lifts, and other heavy equipment. The closure area will only be open to employees and contractors of the Special Event Permittee, during these dates and times. The Carter Barron Complex Parking Lot will be open to the public for the duration of this event. The event space will be opened to pre-registered guests Thursday October 23, 2024 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. The primary entrance for pre-registered guests attending will be from the Carter Barron Parking Lot southwest corner. The park closure is necessary for the safety of park users and the protection of natural and cultural resources in the permit area. Less restrictive measures will not suffice because of the necessity to maintain safety and resource protection. This temporary and partial closure is not of a nature, magnitude and duration that will result in a "significant alteration in the public use pattern." Indeed, other nearby park areas will remain open to the public. The closure will not adversely affect the park's natural, aesthetic, or cultural values; nor require significant modification to the resource management objectives; nor is it of a highly controversial nature. Accordingly, the National Park Service determines that publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unwarranted under 36 CFR 1.5(c). This is consistent with hundreds of earlier partial and temporary park closures, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and judicial adjudications. (Picciotto v. United States, No. 99-2113 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. United States, No. 94-1935 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Lujan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C.); Spiegel v. Babbitt, 855 F.Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994), affld in part w/o op. 56 F.3d 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1995)) Pursuant to 36 CFR 1.7, notice of this temporary and partial closure will be made by sawhorse-style vehicle barricades identifying affected areas of Rock Creek Park and the posting of signs at conspicuous locations. Finally, pursuant to 36 CFR l.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request. Brian Joyner Superintendent |
Last updated: October 22, 2025