Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
HUNTSVILLE, Weber County — Many campground operators are making the finishing touches before opening for the Memorial Day weekend.
In many cases, those are smaller tasks, like clearing debris and repainting structures.
David Whittekiend, the supervisor over the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service said they depend on contracted concessionaires to do much of that work.
Overall, he said the job is much easier than it was one year ago, as much of the Wasatch Front was faced with record runoff.
"We've been able to open up campgrounds that last year were still full of snow, having to try to plow to get the public in there," Whittekiend said. "There's a lot of work that goes into preparing a campground. But with less snow this year, it's made that task a lot easier."
KSL-TV got a look at some areas that were covered with water a year ago and compared them with current conditions.
Managers at the Ruby Resort, a private campground near Huntsville, said that heavy runoff forced a closure and evacuation. Video and pictures from May 15, 2023, show the grounds covered in water.
Now, the area is dry, but the campground is still listed as temporarily closed.
To the north in Logan Canyon, the Second Dam day-use campground is still seeing a lot of runoff, though not enough to cover up some of the public areas that got flooded in 2023.
Still, Whittekiend urges people to take care around the water this holiday weekend.
"There's still a danger out there," Whittekiend explained. "We haven't reached peak runoff yet, and a lot of our campgrounds are adjacent to rivers and streams."
Several campgrounds that were washed out or closed off due to a washout of the Nebo Loop Road near the Grotto Falls Trailhead last May are opening up for the weekend, but not all.
Visitors can check online before going at recreation.gov.
