News Release

Pinnacles NP Announces Paving Project

Date: April 18, 2024
Contact: Chris Symons

Project Overview:
Beginning on April 29 2024, most roads in Pinnacles National Park will undergo a pavement preservation treatment. The project will improve paved road surfaces and extend the duration of the pavement by an estimated 10 years. Unfortunately, the project will cause road delays on the eastside of the park during the week and necessitate a complete closure of the west entrance to all vehicle, foot, and bicycle traffic starting Monday, April 29 through Friday, May 3. Thank you for your patience and understanding while this critical project is underway!

West Pinnacles Impact: 
Significant disruptions to visitors will occur at the start of the project, which will necessitate the complete closure of the west entrance to all visitors Monday through Friday for three weeks. The specific days of the closure are as follows:

• April 29 - May 3: West entrance closed to all traffic Monday through Friday
• May 4 - May 5: West entrance re-opens for the weekend only
• May 6 - May 9: West entrance closed to all traffic
• May 10 - May 12: West entrance re-opens for the weekend
• May 13 - 16: West entrance closed to all traffic
• Friday, May 17: Road construction ends, and west entrance re-opens to all traffic

Note: On May 10 and May 17, the west entrance is tentatively scheduled to be open to the public. However, if a project extension is needed the west entrance may close on those days also.

From April 29 through May 17, visitor parking on the westside will also be significantly limited.  The Jawbone parking area will be used for staging heavy equipment.  Public parking will only be available at the Chaparral and Visitor Center lots. Visitors are advised to arrive early or come later in the afternoon and evening to avoid midday peak visitation. Standard operating hours for the west entrance of 7:30am to 8pm are still in effect.  All visitors need to adhere to these standard operating hours and plan accordingly.

East Pinnacles Impact 
Starting April 29 through early June, road work on the east entrance road will commence resulting in the occasional closure of one lane.  Expect traffic delays up to 30 minutes on weekdays only.

From May 14 through May 17 intermittent closures of parking areas will occur due to micro-surfacing work.  The most significant parking lot closures on the east side are:

• May 14: Bear Gulch picnic and Condor Gulch restroom parking lots closed
• May 15: Half of the Bear Gulch parking lot closed, while the other half remains open for visitor use and access. RV and group campsite roads will be closed for several hours. Arriving campers may need to wait to park at their site.
• May 16: Campground roads for tent sites will be closed for several hours. Campers arriving at their site may need to wait to park at their site.
• May 17: Half of the Bear Gulch parking lot closed. The other half remains open for visitor use and access. The Moses Springs and Manzanita parking areas will be closed.

Paved areas and roads in the campground will also be repaved.  Campers during this time should anticipate minor traffic disruptions.  The campground will stay open during the duration of the project. Campers will need to park fully on their gravel campground sites, and not on pavement surfaces, to avoid obstructing the ongoing project work.

No road closures will occur from Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27 due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Visitors are asked to drive carefully and be courteous to roadworkers engaged in patch paving, chip sealing, micro-surfacing, and micro-striping along the park road.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the National Parks
This critical project at Pinnacles National Park is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a nationwide investment in transit and infrastructure that allocates over $1.73 billion to the National Park Service.  This investment will help NPS nationally address: 

• Climate and Severe Weather Resiliency: Projects that improve the resiliency of transportation infrastructure to sea level rise and severe weather events, including roads and bridges that are designated evacuation routes or located in at-risk areas. 
• Connections to Underserved Gateway Communities: Projects that directly connect or improve access to nearby local communities. Including those which encourage walking, bicycling, or transit use to NPS locations. Examples include new transit facilities, paved trails, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure that connects underserved rural and urban communities and Tribal lands. 
• Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations: Projects to enable electric vehicle use in NPS lands. For example, the NPS is replacing Zion National Park’s aging bus fleet with one of the largest battery-electric bus purchases in North America. The bus electrification project will help the park reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, reduce noise, and save on operating costs. Additionally, the NPS has over 150 public electric vehicle charging stations. The NPS is working through partnerships to build out an expanded network of electric vehicle chargers, supported by BIL funding. 
• Wildlife Crossings: Projects to reduce the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity, including construction of wildlife bridges and tunnels, fencing, and culvert replacements which enable wildlife to avoid crossing roadways where mortality often occurs. 
• Rehabilitation and Repair Projects: Repairs to existing parkways, roads, bridges, paved trails, tunnels, parking areas, transit facilities, and transit fleet replacements, reducing the backlog of deferred maintenance and ensuring the majority of transportation facilities remain in good condition. 

Follow project updates and news releases on www.nps.gov/pinn for further details about park closures and operations.