As weather begins warming and campgrounds start opening, the Shoshone National Forest asks visitors to recreate responsibly by planning ahead, respecting road and area closures, knowing current fire restrictions and abiding by a food storage order.

Shoshone officials are again expecting many visits to the forest this year and high demand for campsites.

“Please do your part by planning ahead and having contingency plans in place in case your favorite campground is already full,” said Kristie Salzmann, a spokeswoman for the Shoshone.

Opening dates and other information about the forest’s campgrounds are available at www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/shoshone/recreation. Shoshone leaders also urge campers to follow the forest’s rules related to food storage, aimed at ensuring bears and other animals can’t get the items and begin seeing people as a source of food.

“It is vitally important that visitors to the Shoshone National Forest understand the food storage order that we have in place,” said Shoshone Supervisor Lisa Timchak. “Please take the time to familiarize yourself with this information prior to your visit to ensure you take steps to help us lessen human–wildlife conflicts.”

For more about the food storage order, visit go.usa.gov/xHssR.

Additionally, some roads remain closed to mitigate damage to the motorized system during spring run-off. 

“Please respect these road closures,” Salzmann said. Learn more about road opening dates by visiting go.usa.gov/xHs63 or by downloading Shoshone motor vehicle use maps on the Avenza App for smartphones or tablets.