Status of highways in National Parks?

[huskeroadgeek]

A post in the thread about gaps in state highways indicating that AZ 64 does not officially exist within Grand Canyon National Park made me think about a question-what is the official status of numbered highways within National Parks and other NPS-maintained sites? Are they all officially gaps in the routes? I believe most of them are signed within the parks(at least at major junctions), but is this just for the purpose of continuity?

Also, Yellowstone brings up a few questions on its own as there are 7 different US highways that go to or through the park. Do the 3 highways that go to, but not through the park (US 14, 16, and 212) officially end at the park border? And do the 4 highways that go through the park(US 20, 89, 191 and 287) have a specific route that they follow while inside the park? As I recall from a couple of family trips there about 25 years ago, the US highway signage only appears at the loop road's junctions with each of the entrance roads and not on the loop road itself. Is it still this way?

[corco]

It varies from park to park. In the case of Yellowstone, the only US highway that exists within its boundaries is 191, that strictly being the segment where it clips the boundary north of West Yellowstone, MT. The other routes end at the borders. There is no specific routing through the park. The National Forest Service (as opposed to MDOT/WyDOT) does maintain US-212 from the Yellowstone border all the way to the eastern Montana line (including the Wyoming part), but that officially is US-212.

So all the routes that traverse the length of the park formally end at the boundaries and resume on the other side, so 20/89/191/287 are not continuous routes.

However, Washington SR 410 and 123 go through Rainier NP and US-26/89/191/287 go through Grand Teton NP. I'd suspect that more often than not the highway continues through the park- Yellowstone and Grand Canyon being exceptions to the rule.

[roadfro]

Most Nevada routes that serve National Park Service facilities end at the official border of the park, generally upstream of the fee booth. Examples:

*SR 488 at Great Basin Nat'l Park
*SR 147 & SR 564 (former 146) at Lake Mead Nat'l Recreation Area

An exception to this is SR 159 through the Red Rock Nat'l Conservation Area. The fee areas actually exist off the state highway, so the highway remains open to the public...although it now has a ban on large/through trucks due to the amount of cyclists.

[Bickendan]

It varies from park to park. In the case of Yellowstone, the only US highway that exists within its boundaries is 191, that strictly being the segment where it clips the boundary north of West Yellowstone, MT. The other routes end at the borders. There is no specific routing through the park. The National Forest Service (as opposed to MDOT/WyDOT) does maintain US-212 from the Yellowstone border all the way to the eastern Montana line (including the Wyoming part), but that officially is US-212.

So all the routes that traverse the length of the park formally end at the boundaries and resume on the other side, so 20/89/191/287 are not continuous routes.

However, Washington SR 410 and 123 go through Rainier NP and US-26/89/191/287 go through Grand Teton NP. I'd suspect that more often than not the highway continues through the park- Yellowstone and Grand Canyon being exceptions to the rule.

OR 62 has a gap in Crater Lake NP; CA 41 and 140 go into Yosemite and terminate within the park.

[oscar]

HI 11 passes through the Big Island's Hawaii Volcanoes National Park without interruption in either route signage or Hawaii DOT maintenance.  You can pass through fee-free, but most park attractions are off the highway and require a fee.

On Maui's Haleakala National Park, CR 31 passes through the coastal Oheo Gulch segment of the mark without apparent interruption, though the county disclaims maintenance responsibility for two historic one-lane bridges within the park, and it's not obvious that the county (or anyone else) does any significant road maintenance on CR 31 in the park.  No fee to pass through, but the parking lot for trails and restrooms has a tolltaker.  OTOH, HI 378 toward the Haleakala summit stops at the park boundary, shortly before a fee booth.

Could the presence or absence of fee booths make all the difference?

[TheStranger]

In Colorado, US 36 ends at US 34 in the Rocky Mountain National Park, with no gap in signage AFAIK.

[Bryant5493]

U.S. 441 is signed through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, isn't it? Been awhile since I've been up that way.


Be well,

Bryant

[dfilpus]

U.S. 441 is signed through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, isn't it? Been awhile since I've been up that way.

US 441 is signed up to the park boundary, but not within the park. The only reference to US 441 I know of in the park is at the interchange for the Blue Ridge Parkway, where the south bound carriageway has a sign that says "TO US 441 South".

[xonhulu]

Could the presence or absence of fee booths make all the difference?

In the case of OR 62 and Crater Lake, there's no entrance booth on the highway.  You have to turn off the highway to head toward the rim before you encounter the booth.

However, in Grand Teton NP, the US Highways are signed along the south and east of Moran Jct.  However, once you turn north on US 89/191/287 you immediately encounter the entrance station, and the highways are no longer signed beyond that point.

So I don't think we can say one way or the other if the fee booth is the difference; it seems to vary park-to-park.

[hbelkins]

U.S. 441 is signed through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, isn't it? Been awhile since I've been up that way.

US 441 is signed up to the park boundary, but not within the park. The only reference to US 441 I know of in the park is at the interchange for the Blue Ridge Parkway, where the south bound carriageway has a sign that says "TO US 441 South".

This photo was taken near the Sugarlands Visitor Center (the Tennessee side) about 10 years or so ago. It uses the old-style triangle Tennessee state route sign with the abbreviation TN instead of TENN. It may or may not still be posted like this, it's been 10 years since we've been to the Smokies and Gatlinburg.

[national highway 1]

US 385 terminates at the Big Bend NP north entrance in TX.

[J N Winkler]

To be precise, state maintenance of US 385 ends at the entrance to Big Bend NP.  I think, however, that there are direction signs pointing the way to US 385 within the park itself.

[deathtopumpkins]

I'm not sure about officially or not, but I know all numbered highways within the Colonial National Historical Park (Yorktown / Jamestowne, VA) are posted completely, which includes US 17, VA 238, and a number of state secondaries.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I'm not sure about officially or not, but I know all numbered highways within the Colonial National Historical Park (Yorktown / Jamestowne, VA) are posted completely, which includes US 17, VA 238, and a number of state secondaries.

Yes, they are all fully posted and do not end or pause at park boundaries. US 60, VA 5, VA 132, VA 132Y, VA 143, and VA 162 are all posted in the vicinity of Colonial Williamsburg (US 60 passes through it and VA 5 and VA 31 end near there).

VA 359 is posted in Jamestown despite only connecting VA 31 to the Colonial Parkway, and VA 31, SR 614, and I-64 are all posted from it. US 17 is referenced on the Parkway itself but no shields are used (the signs say "U.S. Route 17").

VA 238, US 17, and I-64 are posted in Yorktown (and shields for US 17 and I-64 appear on park signage). US 17 also bisects the town itself as it approaches the George P. Coleman Bridge.

EDIT: Never mind, US 60, VA 31, VA 5, and I-64 are all posted from the parkway:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Yorktown,+VA&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.546728,93.076172&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Yorktown,+York,+Virginia&ll=37.277749,-76.696533&spn=0.002574,0.005681&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.277727,-76.696649&panoid=4FjHZAnBHmwLZevKZVf6Qw&cbp=12,306.66,,0,2.54

[Bickendan]

It varies from park to park. In the case of Yellowstone, the only US highway that exists within its boundaries is 191, that strictly being the segment where it clips the boundary north of West Yellowstone, MT. The other routes end at the borders. There is no specific routing through the park. The National Forest Service (as opposed to MDOT/WyDOT) does maintain US-212 from the Yellowstone border all the way to the eastern Montana line (including the Wyoming part), but that officially is US-212.

So all the routes that traverse the length of the park formally end at the boundaries and resume on the other side, so 20/89/191/287 are not continuous routes.

However, Washington SR 410 and 123 go through Rainier NP and US-26/89/191/287 go through Grand Teton NP. I'd suspect that more often than not the highway continues through the park- Yellowstone and Grand Canyon being exceptions to the rule.

OR 62 has a gap in Crater Lake NP; CA 41 and 140 go into Yosemite and terminate within the park.

An email from ODOT says that OR 62 has no gap whatsoever through Crater Lake. Whether it's signed by the feds is another issue.

[bugo]

AR 7 and 7S go through Hot Springs National Park.  US 70B once did, but was decommissioned and the number used for another highway.

[usends]

In Colorado, US 36 ends at US 34 in the Rocky Mountain National Park, with no gap in signage AFAIK.

Well, last time I was there (2005), I didn't observe any US 36 markers within the Park boundary, except for the NPS signage at US 36's terminus at US 34.  The last westbound marker is right where the road enters the Park, and the first eastbound marker is where the road exits the Park, at milepost 5 (some photos here).  But since US 36 exists in the Park only for 5 miles, and since it's not uncommon to have (at least) a 5-mile gap in signage, I don't think we can conclude from signage whether US 36 officially "exists" in RMNP.  However, the official NPS map that you get at the visitor centers has both US 36 and US 34 "signed" within the Park, so that's a pretty good indicator that NPS itself refers to the roads by those numbers.

[BigMattFromTexas]

U.S. 385 goes through Big Bend National Park, I'm not sure if it's signed or not, but it goes through.
BigMatt

[Ian]

A few state routes including ME 3 in Acadia National Park are signed. But I do think all of those sections are maintained by the state as it only goes into the park in a few sections.

[Landshark]

US 101 passes through Olympic National Park in two different areas.  One stretch is along the Pacific coast near Kalaloch and the other is the Lake Crescent area.  It is signed within the park (MP 158.73).

It also passes through a portion of Redwoods National Park.