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Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
First the shivering, then the sun at Chaco Canyon's spring equinox event
Mar. 31—With all things being equal, including the amount of daylight and nighttime, this 2025 trip to New Mexico's Chaco Culture National Historical Park ushered in spring and taught what to do to make sure that sloth or poor planning don't ruin an adventurer's experience at special events. For those who arrived the day before, it was unclear how to grab a spot at the early morning event celebrating the vernal equinox at Chaco's Casa Rinconada. But park employees showed the way, lining up vehicles. Here's how it worked on March 20. We arose before 6 a.m. at Gallo Campground inside the park to the sounds of other campers starting up, rustling about with the fear that others would get in line before them on the main road. Since the morning temperature was a brisk 9 degrees outside the van, we started the vehicle to defrost windows, which had iced from the inside. Windows defrost from bottom up, so have a shorter person drive. Around 6:15 a.m. park staff directed vehicles into the visitor center lot to line up for entry. A few minutes later, groups of 10 vehicles at a time were allowed onto the paved park road, where the darkness gave way to outlines of the ruins. After the drive to the ruins, a short hike led to the kiva where park personnel and visitors shivered and awaited the main event: the sun rise and the illumination through the windows of Chaco's ruins. The ranger-led program commenced at Casa Rinconada just before sunrise. To protect and preserve historical parks, these programs are limited to 100 people. In a time-specific event such as this, early-risers have the best chance at taking part. And at a remote location like Chaco, camping gives you the best chance to be in line when the park gates open. It was possible to view the light through the window in the kiva for less than 15 minutes as the sun crept over the golden horizon. "We may not be observing the alignment the way that the Puebloans may have, you know, but when they built this building, when they built any of their structures here in the canyon, they had some great intent behind that, even if they would not have all stood here in a line waiting to get their perfect selfie, or whatever it is, to actually witness that alignment," said ranger Kelli Housley. "Actually recognizing the changing of the season was really critical for the Puebloans, so we are continuing that tradition here today." Chaco presents programs like this and night sky adventures year-round. To learn more about Chaco Culture National Historical Park, visit
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
A popular entrance to Joshua Tree National Park will close in April. What to know
Expect a longer drive into and out of Joshua Tree National Park early in April with the busy west entrance closed to all traffic beginning 6 a.m. on April 7 until 6 p.m. April 10. The closure, while inconvenient during the popular spring season, will allow heavy equipment to help finish constructing a long-awaited, badly needed larger west entrance into the park. Instead, visitors must enter or exit the park via the Twentynine Palms north entrance, or the Cottonwood entrance at the park's south boundary. The north entrance station is 25 miles east of the west entrance, and is the most accessible for visitors traveling on Highway 62, park staff said, adding about 17 minutes more driving time. For the designated four days, visitors will not be permitted to enter the park via Park Boulevard through the town of Joshua Tree. Instead, Park Boulevard will be closed to vehicle traffic for 6 miles from the current west entrance to Quail Springs Picnic Area. This closure includes the Maze Loop and Creosote trailhead parking areas. Visitors also may not drive to or park at these trailheads during the closure. This closure is necessary for crews to prepare the area for paving as the new entrance station is constructed. Crews will be cutting into the road to run utilities to the new entrance station location and to adjust the grade of the road. All other park roads are expected to remain open. The current west entrance is the busiest of the three entries to the ever-more-popular park. In 2023, more than half a million vehicles passed through it. The new entrance will be built approximately one-third mile south of the current one and further inside the park. The station will be significantly expanded to include two inbound lanes, one outbound lane, and one bypass lane in each direction. Visitors will also benefit from the upgrade of a single entrance booth to four. The project is funded by fee revenue through the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. 'We appreciate the patience of our visitors and community as we continue work on the new entrance station,' said Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Jane Rodgers. 'This temporary inconvenience will allow us to more quickly serve visitors in the future at the improved entrance station. The park recognizes this is a very busy time to close a section of road, but we must comply with the obligations set forth in our construction contract. The original closure was expected to last two weeks, and I'm glad it's been reduced to just four days.' For April 7-10, park staff will place signs along Highway 62 and Park Boulevard and within the park alerting visitors to this temporary traffic pattern change. Exiting vehicles may turn around at Quail Springs Picnic Area and entering vehicles may turn around at the current west entrance station; however, this is not advised due to an expected traffic backup. Visitors can access construction updates at Park rangers encourage visitors to observe posted speed limits and drive only on designated roads. You can save time and prepare for your visit by:\ Purchasing an entrance pass ahead of time at and being prepared to show the pass at the entrance station Downloading the NPS App for trip planning and park alerts at Checking the park website for current conditions, restrictions, closures, and more at Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun and co-authors USA Today Climate Point. She can be reached at jwilson@ This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Joshua Tree National Park entrance will close in April: What to know
