Tourists from Europe and across the states were forced to turn around as they met the closed gates of Saguaro National Park East on Wednesday.
The first day of the federal government shutdown caused road closures and visitor confusion. Some were disappointed that their travel plans were disrupted.
Digant and Sonal Patel, a couple from Wisconsin, traveled to Phoenix for a reunion with friends and carved out a day in their trip to see Tucson unaware that the shutdown affected National Parks. They said they were excited to see a landscape so different from home.
“Tickets were booked, we were scheduled, so we had no other option. We just came,” Digant says.
AZPM reached out to the National Park Service to gather more specific information regarding the shutdown’s effect on local parks, but it has not responded. The park service’s contingency plan, however, states that roads, trails, lookouts and open-air memorials will be generally accessible and that basic visitor services like bathroom sanitation and emergency services remain.
It also estimates that around 9,000 National Park Service employees are expected to be furloughed during the lapse.
Before the shutdown, 40 former National Park Service superintendents wrote to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum asking for the parks to close in case of a shutdown. The superintendents expressed fears of vandalism and improper park management, which occurred during previous federal shutdowns.