The Arkansas State Park System is beginning a gradual reopening process, starting this Friday.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced that parks would begin opening for overnight camping with restrictions. Starting May 1, Arkansas residents will be allowed to camp inside state parks in self-contained recreational vehicles (RVs).
According to Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst, a Phase 1 plan for reopening the state park system was developed and reviewed by Arkansas Department of Health Secretary Dr. Nathaniel Smith. With Smith’s approval, the plan was reviewed by Hutchinson, who approved the reopening plan.
“Arkansans love their state parks. We know that because we track visitation and we want to invite Arkansas residents back into our parks. We presented a Phase 1 plan to Gov. Hutchinson to gradually lift the public-use restrictions that were placed on Arkansas State Parks,” Hurst said.
In early April, state officials began limiting park services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to limit community transmission. On April 1, Hurst announced that the state parks would be limited to day use only. With this announcement, all overnight services were officially closed on April 3.
This new plan will only open the campgrounds for Arkansas residents with self-contained RVs at the beginning of the plan. Campground bath facilities will not be open due to public health concerns, Hurst said.
Starting May 15, further park services are expected to begin reopening, Hurst said.
An increased array of camping options will be opened for Arkansas residents. Cabins, lodges and rent-a-RV services are scheduled to reopen May 15 as part of the Phase 1 reopening process. These reservations – also limited to Arkansas residents – will be available for reservations from Friday through Monday to allow for cleaning.
In addition, visitor information centers, retail centers, museums and exhibits are targeted to open on May 15. This also includes select restaurants and food service facilities, as well as golf pro shops.
Marinas are also expected to reopen on May 15, as well as rental equipment shops.
“Of course, if these measure become problematic or dangerous in some way within our state parks for staff or for visitors, we will certainly reexamine these measures and make new recommendations to the governor,” Hurst said.
Hutchinson emphasized the need to maintain current social distancing measures during the reopening process. The reason for restricting park access, he said, was to cut down on the risk of transmission posed by large numbers of congregating park visitors.
“Even with the limited opening of our state parks and lifting some of those restrictions, we still need to socially distance. If you can’t socially distance, you need to wear masks,” he said.
“I remember before we actually closed some of our state parks that we really had some issues on some weekends that there was too much congregation, there were too many people in close contact with each other,” he said. “We want to encourage everyone to be careful and mindful of this because we want you to enjoy them but at the same time, we’ve got to stay healthy and we have to make sure that we don’t have to take a step backwards down the road just because people are not doing what they need to be doing.”
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