Hikers approve of shuttle system at Hanging Lake

August 25, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

DENVER

Thousands of people have hiked up to a popular scenic Colorado lake using a new reservation system.

The Denver Post reported that White River National Forest officials received five out of five stars on a shuttle service implemented in May from more than 95 percent of survey respondents visiting Glenwood Canyon’s Hanging Lake.

Park officials said the system replaces a visitor parking lot with $12 shuttle rides from Glenwood Springs to the lake about 155 miles west of Denver.

Officials said the goal was to improve the health of the trail and lake by moderating human impact while also improving the visitor experience.

Officials said Hanging Lake has a daily limit of 615 visitors and has reached more than 40,000 hikers since the program began earlier this year.

Portion of Mammoth Cave to close for renovations

CAVE CITY, Ky.

Officials say a section of Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky will be closed for more than a year for renovations.

Park spokeswoman Molly Schroer told the Daily News that a 2-mile section of cave stretching from the Snowball Room to Grand Central Station will close sometime this fall and isn’t expected to reopen for 18 months.

Schroer said the dirt and stone cave floor has become degraded and the project will make the path smoother and more durable while making steps and handrails more user-friendly.

She said the Grand Avenue Tour and the Wild Cave Tour won’t be available for the entire closure. Others tours, including Domes and Dripstones and Frozen Niagara, would be closed for only part of the renovation.

Silver Dollar City planning a major expansion

BRANSON, Mo.

The Silver Dollar City theme park near Branson is planning an expansion that is expected to cost more than $30 million.

Park president Brad Thomas said the expansion will include a Mystic River Falls ride to replace the Lost River of the Ozarks ride. The new ride will include a 4.5 story waterfall drop. Also planned is a barbecue restaurant that will seat 450 people and other improvements.

The Springfield News-Leader reported Switzerland-based manufacturer RES is working with Silver Dollar City to create the new Mystic River Falls. It is projected to open next summer.

Thomas said the park has invested $100 million into new rides and improvements since 2010.

Almost 2.2 million people visited the park in 2018.

Record number of Fla. tourists but overseas visits down

ORLANDO, Fla.

Florida had more than a 5 percent increase in tourists in the first half of the year, but visits from international travelers were down.

Figures released recently by Visit Florida, the state tourism promotion agency, shows 68.9 million visitors came to Florida from January through June, the largest number of visitors during any six-month period.

More than 61 million visitors came from within the United States, and 7.6 million visitors came from outside the U.S.

Excluding Canada, the number of international visitors was down by about 2 percent. That is part of a nationwide trend blamed on competition and trade tensions.

Associated Press