Lodging in Grand Teton National Park will be limited this summer as Jackson Lake and Jenny Lake lodges are not expected to open/Kurt Repanshek file

Weather is warming across the country, and desires to get outside and into the National Park System are growing, but exactly how parks will go about reopening continues to be a work in progress not entirely ready for public disclosure. At least one major park concessionaire, unable to safely house workers, announced Tuesday that two of its lodges in Grand Teton National Park are not expected to open this year.

Grand Teton Lodge Co. emailed guests with summer reservations that neither the Jackson Lake Lodge or Jenny Lake Lodge are likely to open this year.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how many of us work and live. As a result, and in response to newly received guidance from the National Park Service, as well as continuing recommendations and ordinances from our local and national public health authorities, we are unable to house our large number of seasonal employees as we normally do in shared dorms for the upcoming summer season," the concessionaire said in an email announcing the lodge closings.

As for the concessionaire's other lodgings in Grand Teton, it provided this information:

• Colter Bay Village - Expected to open for cabins, camping, tent cabins, RV operations
• Headwaters at Flagg Ranch - Expected to open for cabins, camping, RV operations
• Jenny Lake Campground - Expected to open for camping operations
• Gros Ventre Campground - Expected to open for camping operations

In Yellowstone National Park just to the north of Grand Teton, Xanterra Parks & Resorts has committed to open lodging on June 15, though exactly how much lodging will be available remains to be seen.

"That is a horizon date targeted at opening limited overnight accommodations, only visitor cabins initially, not hotels," Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly told Traveler in an email Tuesday. "We're working to give them maximum flexibility to open accommodations as it is safe to do so. We've agreed that we will start conservative and accelerate if conditions are favorable and be ready to contract if they're not. It is possible cabins in some areas could open sooner than June 15 depending how this next few weeks go.

"We will look at potentially opening hotels later in the summer, if conditions allow. Once again, no hotels would come online initially."

Betsy O'Rourke, Xanterra's chief marketing officer, said in an email that, "We will publish any impacts on operations to ensure that our guests are aware of how we will be operating in this environment."

Exactly what precautions will be taken to protect park employees, visitors, and concessions staff as best possible from spreading coronavirus continue to be developed.

"We'll approach operations initially with each employee having their own bedroom and bathroom to the best degree possible," said Sholly. "No dorms used in their normal configuration as we start. We don't want to be in a situation where we're having to quarantine an entire floor of a dorm or worse. In a few circumstances we are using dorms but not at their normal capacity (i.e., not putting two to a room, etc.)."

At Delaware North, which operates lodges in Shenandoah, Olympic, and Grand Canyon national parks, spokesman Glen White said for now the company was holding to dates in May and June to open lodges in Shenandoah (June 11 for Big Meadows and Skyland lodges), Olympic (May 22 for Kalaloch Lodge and May 29 for Lake Crescent Lodge), and Grand Canyon (May 22 for Yavapai Lodge and Trailer Village).

"We’re continuing to monitor developments, consulting with the National Park Service, and assessing how the ongoing efforts of state and other health officials in response to COVID-19 might shape the timetable for reopening the lodging, food and beverage, retail and other services that we operate in several national parks," said White. "At this time we are focused on ways that we will keep our guests and employees safe from COVID-19 and provide them peace of mind while they are in our lodging and other facilities. This includes re-engineering our operating procedures to minimize contact risk and bolstering cleaning and hygiene protocols according to best-practice guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control."

Exactly what changes in operating procedures will be seen this summer were being developed, he said.

Back at Yellowstone, Sholly did say the park would be open before June 15.

"There is no correlation between that June 15 date Xanterra Set for their accommodations and the larger opening of the park," he said. "We will open the park sooner than that."

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