With the government shutdown, some federal entities may not be available to help travelers.
The government shutdown could wreak havoc on your visit to a unit of the National Park Service and the speed with which you can get a passport.
If your plans include a visit to any one of the 417 National Parks, you might want to call ahead, especially because it was not completely clear Friday how the parks units could be affected by the shutdown .
Camp sites within park service units would be closed, the Hill reported Friday.
The Hill quoted a National Park Service spokesman as saying that the park service would try to keep parks “as accessible as possible.”
But, it added, “Services that require staffing and maintenance, such as campgrounds and full-service restrooms, will close in the event of a shutdown.”
Because of the uncertainty of services, travelers should call ahead. A list of most of the California units, including phone numbers, appears below.
The park service, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016, has several types of units. The national parks, the “beauty spots” most familiar to the public, include such well-known sites as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the system, the Grand Canyon (second most visited) and California’s Yosemite National Park (third most visited).
National seashores, battlegrounds, historic sites and monuments are among other designations within the park service system. Those applying for passports, meanwhile, may have longer waits, depending on the length of the shutdown and the effect of 10-year-old post-9/11 legislation.
In 2017,21.4 million passports were issued, nearly 3 million more than in 2016. That was partly the result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which grew out of 9/11 recommendations.
Part 1 went into effect in 2007 and required travelers returning by air to the U. S. to have a passport.
As a result, more than 6 million more passports were issued in 2007 than in 2006, causing a backlog — at one point of about 3 million passports — and wait times of as much as three months.
Part 2 of the initiative was implemented in 2009; it said a passport was needed for land and sea travel besides air travel.
The issuance of those Part 1 passports may be responsible for the swell in 2017: The passports issued in 2007, good for 10 years, were due to expire in 2017.
Although it would seem 2018 wouldn’t see such a swell, that may not be the case. The State Department often notes that if your passport is nine years old, you should renew it because many countries will not accept the documents if they have less than six months of validity.
For more information about passports, see the State Department’s website. As of late Friday, there had been no change in passport processing times, still listed as four to six weeks.
Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego; (619) 557-5450
Castle Mountains, Barstow; (760) 252-6100
César E. Chávez National Monument, Keene; (661) 823-6134
Channel Islands National Park, off Ventura; (805) 658-5730;
Death Valley National Park, Death Valley: (760) 786-3200
Devils Postpile National Monument, Mammoth Lakes; (760) 934-2289
Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, Danville; (925) 838-0249 x6320
Fort Point National Historic Site, San Francisco; (415) 504-2334,
Golden Gate National Recreational Area, San Francisco; (415) 561-4700
John Muir National Historic Site, Martinez; (925) 228-8860
Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms; (760) 367-5500
San Juan Bautista National Historic Trail, San Francisco, (415) 623-2344
Lassen Volcanic National Park, Mineral; (530) 595-4480
Lava Beds National Monument, Tulelake; (530) 667-8113,
Manzanar National Historic Site, Independence; (760) 878-2194 x3310,
Mojave National Preserve, between Los Angeles and Las Vegas; (760) 252-6100
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley; (415) 561-2850,
Pinnacles National Park, Paicines; (831) 389-4486,
Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes Station; (415) 464-5100
Port Chicago Naval Magazine, Martinez; (925) 228-8860, Ext. 6520
Presidio of San Francisco; (415) 561-4323
Redwood National and State parks, Del Norte and Humboldt counties, (707) 465-7335
Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front, Richmond; (510) 232-5050
San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park; (415) 561-7000
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, (805) 370-2301
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Fresno and Tulare counties, Three Rivers; (559) 565-3341
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, (530) 242-3400
Yosemite National Park, in the Sierra; (209) 372-0200
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