The Department of Interior on Tuesday ordered Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks to remain partly open as the federal government shut down at midnight over a budget impasse in Congress.
“Park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors,” according to the “lapse plan.” But visitor centers and other facilities that are usually locked after business hours will be closed, according to the agency’s September 2025 contingency plan posted Tuesday evening.
Staffing will be reduced “based on the assumption that the NPS is conducting no park operations and providing no visitor services,” the plan states.
Parks will begin notifying the public today regarding operations, services and which facilities are open or closed. Those notifications could clarify some elements of the plan that may appear confusing, including what visitor services will or will not be provided.
Whether “accessible areas” will have basic services appears to depend on whether fees are collected there.
“Past shutdowns in which gates remained open with limited staff have hurt our parks.”
The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
“Basic visitor services” to maintain restrooms, sanitation, trash collection, road maintenance, campgrounds, law enforcement, emergency personnel and access through entrance gates will be provided at sites that collect fees under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, the plan states.
At Yellowstone, campgrounds will be open, WyoFile has learned. Emergency services parkwide, however, will be limited.
Hotels operated by concessionaires can remain open with the blessing of a park’s superintendent and approval by the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.
The Park Service will not provide road or trail conditions and will not maintain websites or social media except for emergencies, the plan states. The Park Service will not open parks that don’t have “accessible areas,” according to the plan.
Former supervisors protest
The plan was put in place over the objections of 42 former park superintendents, including former Yellowstone Superintendent Mike Finley. They wrote Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Thursday under The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks’ letterhead.
“[W]e write to you with an urgent appeal to protect our parks and public lands by closing them if a government shutdown occurs,” the letter reads. “Past shutdowns in which gates remained open with limited staff have hurt our parks: Iconic symbols cut down and vandalized, trash piled up, habitats destroyed, and visitor safety jeopardized.”
The Park Service plan allows closure of areas with sensitive natural, cultural, historic or archaeological resources that can’t be protected — if the closure is approved by the assistant secretary.
The plan expects 9,296 of 14,500 employees to be furloughed,leaving 5,204 workers — about 36% — to run the parks.
In addition to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, the agency operates Devil’s Tower National Monument, Fossil Butte National Monument, the Fort Laramie National Historic Site, the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway and Bighorn Canyon National Recreational Area in Wyoming.
One wildlife tour operator on Thursday shared a letter to Wyoming’s congressional delegation saying uncertainty over a shutdown was plaguing his business.
“Our work, and the experience we provide to travelers from all over the world, relies deeply on the operation, maintenance, and stewardship of our public lands and the National Park Service,” wrote Taylor Phillips, owner of Jackson Hole EcoTour Adventures. “We have already seen the impacts of workforce cuts,” he wrote, worrying about “further reductions that would only weaken the guest experience.
“And when that experience suffers, visitors go elsewhere.”
In 2024, national park sites in Wyoming drew 8.1 million visitors, who spent $1.2 billion in the state, the agency reported Monday. That included $710 million in visitor spending for Yellowstone, $808 million for Grand Teton, $41.7 million for Devils Tower, $1.3 million for Fossil Butte and $1.4 million for Fort Laramie.
A glorious time
Some Yellowstone facilities were scheduled to remain open through Oct. 31, although many shut down for the season before that date due to weather. Whether that schedule changes with limited operations under the shutdown plan remains uncertain.
Plowing roads, for example, will not generally be allowed, according to the plan. Meantime, Yellowstone remains a magical place in the fall, a seasonal ranger said.
Bugling elk and fall colors draw crowds to Grand Teton and Yellowstone this time of year.
“It’s just a glorious time to be here,” said John Kerr, who works in the summer in Lamar Valley. Now off duty, Kerr spoke for himself and not in any official capacity. “This is a time when bears are in hyperphagia — they are eating as much as possible to prepare themselves for a winter of hibernation. They are more visible.”
