The Painted Canyon Visitor Center and rest area along Interstate 94 will open to vehicle traffic on Saturday. The area has been open to foot traffic only since last November.
"We are very pleased that funding allows us to open Painted Canyon for the main part of the summer visitor season," Theodore Roosevelt National Park Superintendent Valerie J. Naylor said in a press release. "We did not have the resources to open it earlier in the spring, but it should now be open every day through the end of September."
A group of 23 volunteers from the Badlands Conservation Alliance worked on May 18 to help the park staff prepare the area for visitors. They removed shutters, placed benches and emblems, cleaned exhibits, swept walkways, washed windows and replaced fence rails.
The hours at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MDT. The South Unit Visitor Center in Medora is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MDT.
Beginning May 25, the North Unit Visitor Center located 14 miles south of Watford City will be open every day, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CDT.
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After June 1, visitor centers will have extended hours.
