NC State Parks May Reopen Soon

North Carolina state parks may soon reopen. The governor in a recent news release said: “if all goes well in the fight against coronavirus”. The target date to reopen is May 9, 2020. Most of North Carolina’s state parks have been closed since the end of March. The stay-at-home order issued in late March due to the coronavirus resulted in state parks and business as well as schools to close. The
stay-at-home order along with the social distancing rule was to help slow the spread of the virus.

With the state parks closed since March, the animals seem to have taken back their land! There are many reports of increased sightings of deer, hawks, owls, woodpeckers, wild turkey and grouse. Even the black bear sightings by park rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains are on the increase. Many areas around the world have also reported on wildlife wandering around city streets. The air is clearer with less pollution in many areas and many waterways are sparkling clear and clean.

Many people still use the trails for walking and hiking in some NC state parks, but the bathrooms, campgrounds and visitors centers are closed. With the closures staff are keeping busy working on projects and making improvements and repairs.

The governor released a three-phase system to slowly reopen things in North Carolina. Reopening parks is in phase one. The North Carolina Stay At Home order is now expected to be lifted after May 8. Hopefully, by this summer we can all get back out to our beautiful state parks.