Indian Tribal road closure of federal highways ????

Did they close the highways? Or just access to side roads into tribal lands?

Contact the state Dept of Transportation. Here in NM they provide an online map of all closures. https://nmroads.com/mapIndex.html? The state and US roads are not closed but some tribal roads are and some are not. Generally the roads are open but you cannot enter the pueblos (get off the state/fed without a reason) unless you are a resident.

here is a map that may help. Click on blue symbol in the area you want.

NM highways

Indians can't close Federal highways, they don't own those.

BB_TX wrote:
Did they close the highways? Or just access to side roads into tribal lands?

July 2020 Press release

And the bottleneck won’t disappear anytime soon. Tribal leaders recently announced they would keep the eastern entrances and roads to Glacier, which lie on reservation land, closed at least through August.

SD511.org for South Dakota. They are listed as a "Civil Emergency" and don't actually show the road closed, but yes, the roads are blocked as of now.

Just plug it into google maps. It will either eliminate unsuitable routes or warn you.

We passed thru one in SE arizona. The federal highway was open but they set up check booths at all the local cross roads.

By later this summer, it's unlikely most will still be closed so trying to plan now is unlikely to show what will be open in 4-5 months

azdryheat wrote:
Indians can't close Federal highways, they don't own those.

Not entirely true.
They can not close an Interstate, but they can close Interstate entry/exit points on their land for health and safety reasons so long as it's not a connection to another Interstate or barred by agreement. They also have the right to close or restrict travel on any road on their land if it's specifically for health and safety reasons.

In many states, such as Arizona, the nations have agreements in place to keep most roads open for thru travel. Odds are you will be able to travel along those roads if going through a tribal community, just access off that road may be restricted. Most secondary native roads can be closed by the nation as they see fit, be it labels as a state or county numerical road.

dieseltruckdriver wrote:
SD511.org for South Dakota. They are listed as a "Civil Emergency" and don't actually show the road closed, but yes, the roads are blocked as of now.

Thank you for the reference! Need this when we trek through the Badlands. Do you think we'll have any issues drycamping in Badlands in May?

sunfan03 wrote:

Thank you for the reference! Need this when we trek through the Badlands. Do you think we'll have any issues drycamping in Badlands in May?

Not if you stay on good paved or gravel roads. Avoid the dirt roads if there is rain in the forecast. If it rains and you used a dirt road to get to the spot you chose, wait until the road dries out before trying to leave. It only takes a day with sun. If you can't wait, don't go there.
There is a couple on Youtube that got stuck on a great spot right outside Badlands NP because they tried to go on a wet dirt road with a big 5er. They rutted the heck out of the road, and pretty much laughed it off. I refuse to watch another of their videos. Idiots screwing things up for everyone else tends to rile me up a bit.

One more thing, bring blankets, you just never know....