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PROMONTORY, Box Elder County — Though Utah’s five national parks will remain open during the partial government shutdown, Golden Spike National Historic Site will be closed, park officials announced Saturday.
The National Park Service site will be closed for the safety of visitors and park resources, Golden Spike park ranger Lucas Hugie said in an emailed statement. The visitor’s center and restrooms will not be open to the public, according to Hugie.
The Winter Steam Festival at the site, which was scheduled for Dec. 28-30, also has been canceled, according to Hugie.
The partial shutdown of the federal government started at midnight Friday after both bodies of Congress failed to reach a spending deal that would have kept the government operating. It’s unclear how long the shutdown will last.
Several other National Park Service sites in Utah will remain open during the shutdown, including the state’s five national parks — Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion.
Herbert calls shutdown 'sorry state of affairs,' but says Utah would be fine
Gov. Gary Herbert called the federal government shutdown a "sorry state of affairs," but said Utah would be just fine despite the impasse in Congress.Dinosaur National Monument in eastern Utah also will remain accessible to the public with limited services, monument officials said in a Saturday news release.
Roads and trails at the monument will remain open, but emergency and rescue services will be limited.
There will be no visitor services at Dinosaur during the shutdown, including public information, restroom accessibility, trash collection, and maintenance, officials said. All park programs also have been canceled.
The NPS-operated Natural Bridges and Hovenweep national monuments in southeast Utah also will remain accessible to the public, but visitor services will shut down, according to the monument’s website.
Social media profiles and websites for National Park Service sites will not be updated during the shutdown and may not reflect current conditions at NPS sites, officials said.
