#national-parks

Great Smoky Mountains National Park has reopened the 0.8-mile section of Caldwell Fork Trail up to the Boogerman Trail junction, on the North Carolina side south of Cataloochee Valley, WATE reported on Nov. 5. Trail crews replaced two footbridges and rebuilt treadway that washed out in Hurricane Helene in 2024.

The rest of Caldwell Fork beyond the junction stays closed because it has not been rehabilitated; the park says large sections of trail surface washed away, rockslides and debris block the path, and lost bridges made crossings unsafe. Hiking Boogerman Trail is not advised: its first foot log, 55 feet long, was washed away, and the water there is usually more than two feet deep even at low flow.

Instead of trying to link up with Boogerman, treat the reopened section as an out-and-back, and check the park's Current Cautions and Closures page for each trail before you go.

Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, closed its visitor center, Dunker Church and nearby roads and trails from Oct. 27, possibly into Oct. 28, while Marine Corps explosive ordnance specialists from Quantico removed 10 pieces of cannon ammunition embedded in the concrete base of the O.T. Reilly Monument, the National Park Service said.

Sharpsburg resident and local guide O.T. Reilly set the ammunition from his personal collection into the monument's base in the 1920s, when the land was privately owned; the Park Service acquired it in 2022. Because the shells might still contain explosives, the work was closed to the public. The monument is being lifted for preservation, given a new base and returned to its place.

Instead of the closed visitor center, the park set up a temporary information station where Dunker Church Road, Starke Avenue and Cornfield Avenue meet; other battlefield areas stayed open.

Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona is now Chiricahua National Park, the 64th U.S. national park and the first new one since West Virginia's New River Gorge in 2020, after President Trump signed Rep. Juan Ciscomani's Chiricahua National Park Act (H.R. 6380) this week. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined a dedication ceremony at the park.

The roughly 12,000-acre park, protected as a monument since 1924, is known for rhyolite spires and balanced rocks formed after a volcanic eruption about 27 million years ago, and sits between the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts as a "sky island," Condé Nast Traveler notes. It has more than 17 miles of trails and the Bonita Canyon scenic drive. Climbing on the pinnacles remains prohibited to protect resources and because the rock is unstable, Gripped reports.

Instead of hunting for a way up the rock towers, consider the Echo Canyon Trail and the drive to Massai Point, which the park service highlights for views of the standing rocks.

Dyea Flats Road in Alaska's Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park will have single-lane traffic with flaggers October 15–23 and November 18–23, and two full closures between October 24 and November 17 (about five to seven days, then 10 to 12) while crews replace culverts to reduce washout risk from extreme flooding. Exact closure dates will be announced as work progresses.

Instead of driving in: during full closures, visitors can park at the Chilkoot Trailhead and walk to the historic Dyea townsite, Slide Cemetery and Dyea Flats.

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park closed Halemaʻumaʻu Trail and part of Byron Ledge Trail, 1.3 miles in all, on October 7 because of continued inflation and increased earthquakes at Kīlauea's summit. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory counted more than 200 shallow earthquakes in a week; a magnitude 3.4 quake on September 30 caused small rockfalls, and new cracks opened on the caldera floor. Both trails descend from the rim to the floor and have seen dangerous rockfalls before. Viewing areas on the Keanakākoʻi side closed the week before. Scientists say lava fountains could resume; the last eruption was August 25.