They close it at night when no one is there to collect the entrance fee. Also during really bad weather until they plow the roads and parking areas.
Sure, because people always go hiking at night and we can't have people driving on snowy roads. Makes perfect sense. Also, why do we need to collect fees on people who just want to look at rocks?
The official answer is probably to pay for maintaining the roads and toilets in the parking areas, and to pay for the guy collecting the entrance fee. The real reason is because they can.
I like to go to Border Field State Park next to the Mexican border. There's a both there that charges an entrance fee. Fuck if I know why because all the park rangers do is fuck off and plant a few plants once a year while not doing a damn thing about roads or upkeep on the facilities. The only restrooms available now are the ones the border patrol uses and maintains. Sure, they spruced up the signs at the entrance but beyond that, nothing. They don't pick up trash on the beach, even beached dead dolphins and sea lions.
Because it costs money to have bathrooms there so people don't shit all over the place. It costs money to pick up the trash people leave all over the place. It costs money to have someone there to stop assholes from trying to offroad in that shit. It costs money to have roads and trails there for you to enjoy those vistas. It makes sense that the people using a resource be the ones to pay for the resource.
First off, the park service doesn't pick up trash at Border Field State Park... EVER. That's why there's trash strewn all over the fucking place. They still bill the state for upkeep on the restrooms. They still claim maintenance on Friendship Park and there's ZERO upkeep. The border patrol treats it like an off road fun park. Go to google maps and take a look if you don't believe me. Also, no one goes there to dump trash, it just flows in from across the border and the only time there's a clean up is when volunteers come in and do it. Taxes already pay for the damn place and nothing gets done.
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