Multiple campgrounds will still be closed for Memorial Day weekend

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Forest Service says campgrounds in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons won’t be open in time for Memorial Day weekend, although a number of day use areas are open. The same is true for many spots on Utah’s Mirror Lake Highway.

“The majority of the campgrounds along that highway will remain closed due to snow,” said Kathy Jo Pollock, spokesperson for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. “Some of the lower [elevation] ones are going to be open. There’s Yellow Pine, Lower Provo, High Valley Group, and they just got Soapstone and Shadyville open yesterday.”

#uwcnf Heber-Kamas Ranger District photos showing conditions in the Lower Provo and Yellow Pine camgprounds, lower portion of the Mirror Lake Highway, today May 23, 2019 Both campgrounds are open for the Memorial Day weekend. pic.twitter.com/7oAnQAsymf

— Uinta-Wasatch-Cache NF (@UWCNF) May 23, 2019

Pollock says a number of campgrounds around Logan and Ogden, especially near Pineview Reservoir, are open. Other than that, she recommended looking at other national forests in the state for camping options.

Northern Utah received a lot of snow this winter. It’s been melting slowly, which experts say is great for our water supplies as it fills reservoirs without producing strong spring runoff flooding, but it also means it’s been difficult for foresters to open campgrounds in a number of places.

Pollock tells KSL Newsradio campers should use care and caution in leaving paved roadway surfaces, as many areas where people like to have fun, if they have no snow, are still very muddy.

Memorial Day weekend snows are not unusual in the state, though Pollock said the last seasons when campgrounds and roads could not be open in time for the holiday were 2011 and 2012. People can find a full list of updated conditions on the forest service website. Pollock also recommended calling ahead to confirm conditions for a specific location.