S23 is doing research in the Yellowstone area. He doesn’t have any service beyond a Garmin satellite, but from the snippets we’ve gotten, it sounds like there are no workers there.
The one thing we did get was that there is absolutely no staff to check on National Forrest/ BLM land use. (Fourteen day camping limit in one area and you must return to your site every 24 hours).
I visited several National Parks on a roadtrip last week (Gateway Arch, Badlands, Mt Rushmore). No different to normal at the visitor centers, except at Badlands they were running out of the printed brochures and said they didn’t know if and when they’d get any more. They were still running a normal schedule of ranger tours etc (though some of these may rely on volunteers). However we didn’t venture into the backcountry.
I’m very interested in hearing what people are saying. We have plans to visit Yosemite for a couple of days in August, but may pivot to elsewhere if it sounds like things aren’t going well.
I was at Yosemite a few weeks ago. The only difference was that a shuttle was not running “due to staffing issues”. It was still low season and the road to Glacier Point was not yet open due to snowfall. (It was to open the following week).
Everything else seemed normal. The information desk was staffed, we saw trucks patrolling lots, but we weren’t camping, so I don’t know how that was.
I know a coworker had some trouble getting reservations at some parks for this summer. They opened up much later than other years. She made sure she and her husband were online the moment they opened so they could secure reservations.
Mendenhall Glacier has reduced hours at their visitor’s center.
We were at a couple of smaller parks in TX earlier this year when layoffs were just starting. Park rangers were definitely concerned about their jobs and potential low staffing.
We visited RMNP in Colorado in early spring and did not experience significant issues. Entry stations and internal sites were staffed, restrooms clean. We interacted with both rangers and volunteers and while mid-week was fairly quiet the weekends were busy. I was surprised how many visitors were there.
I saw one of these billboards yesterday and had to do a double-take. Very clever!
I walk on a trail that’s on national Forest service land.
There are two sides, I usually walk the side that is next to a district school building.
On the other side, there’s a trailer parked on a side street. It’s been there all season. There are squatters but usually they are parked far within the land. And I know that the NPS employees in years past would evict those squatters. This year, it’s right on the open.
So even though you on the surface aren’t seeing problems, I think that there isn’t the coverage there used to be. Because staffing is slim, they can’t do everything they did in the past.
I haven’t used the bathroom either, it’s never great and I’m afraid of it now!
I was on a much anticipated trip to a National Park during the first Trump hiring freeze/government shutdown and it was touch and go. Federal Law Enforcement was exempt from the shutdown, so my guess is that DEA agents would have found you if you were dealing cocaine in a remote area and got lost. But the niceties- the daily classes given by the rangers (they are SO well informed!), the informal Q&A you get by just walking up to a staff member to ask a question (it’s amazing to me the quality of the folks that work for our government), etc- that was all on ice. Snack bar was closed even though it was a concession but the rest rooms were operating.
As much as I love the Parks (all of them- urban, wilderness) if I were planning a trip right now I would head to Canada. Just wouldn’t want to risk showing up at a park in the US where the scenic areas were roped off due to lack of personnel…
We are heading to Denali later this summer. I haven’t heard of any issues yet, unlike Mendenhall. I am hoping there are little to no impacts at Denali.
I think this situation is different than the shutdown during the first administration of this president.
I had friends who were at Yellowstone. They had to leave because the park was shut down.
I know that the bathrooms were locked at the trail we use. The National Park close to us had to close the gates. Not just have limited hours and less services.
Instead of completely closed, they have less people who have to do more. Kinda like corporate America. Which is unfortunate.
We are headed out west in August and hope to visit a few of the national parks. I tried talking H out of the plans but no luck. Lodging and other amenities in the parks including timed reservations are still completely sold out - keeping my fingers crossed.
In the summer a lot of the more popular parks have volunteers staffing desks etc (even at Badlands, 2 of the 3 people at the visitor center desk were volunteers). I think the effects may be felt more acutely at parks that are well off the beaten track, or in remote areas that don’t/can’t get volunteer assistance.
I was in Shenandoah NP in mid April which is not in season. I know this park had 15 employees fired. The ranger I spoke with said lines at the entrances will probably be much longer and trail maintenance will suffer. As an avid hiker, I can say that poor trail maintenance is a big deal.
I go to Assateague NP frequently. Again, the in season is just starting, but this is a very busy park in the summer, with a lot of visitors who lack sense and respect. The employees always have their hands full enforcing rules and protecting wildlife- we’ll see what happens.
Heading to Acadia in August. Hoping for the best 
Just spoke with LizardKid. I asked him if I should tell my friends to reschedule their visits. He said “The parks are still beautiful and will always be beautiful and that’s why you go, so, no, they shouldn’t reschedule. They might just think twice about using one of the bathrooms. Things like tours or people to ask questions to will be much more limited. And you wouldn’t want to get lost because it will take people way longer to find you.”
He’s also a kid that just spent the last 5 weeks in a tent with no water or electricity, so take that for what it’s worth.
That seems like a reasonable assessment.
I wouldn’t use the bathrooms either!
How do you not use the bathrooms - aren’t people generally at a park for hours?!!! 
Do like the bears do?
(my mom always used to say “does the Pope xxxx in the woods?” 
)
I’ll be at Yosemite for my Road Scholar tour starting Monday so have been keeping track of posts and reports. So far nothing untoward has been mentioned although I believe some outlying campgrounds were not opened. Everything else seems to be operating normally. We will have our own group leader and nature guide, but I also signed up for a couple of ranger led things in my free time so will report back.