All Areas of Denali National Park and Preserve 1980 Additions Closed to Snowmobile Use Cantwell Area Trails Temporarily Closed to ORV Use

Denali National Park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Superintendent Paul Anderson 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 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 will re-open for use on June 15, 2012. View a map of the closed area.

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