When you get to the ramp and it is closed

Why it is closed

• Seasonal: docks removed, gates locked out of season, or a plumbed restroom winterised while the lane stays open.
• Drawdown: on utility and Army Corps reservoirs the pool is lowered on a schedule that has nothing to do with weather, and the ramp ends above the water.
• Storm damage: the most common reason a ramp is open in the data and gone in reality. A washed-out toe or a silted lane can persist for a season before the GIS layer catches up.
• Construction: reconstruction projects routinely close a ramp for months and are announced on the agency's own news page rather than in its inventory.
• Invasive species controls: some states close or gate access points to manage spread, sometimes at short notice.

Before you tow

1. Read the status field on the ramp page if the agency published one, and the notes field, which is where closures usually appear first.
2. Follow the source link. It goes to the agency's own live record, which may be newer than our copy.
3. Call the operator. Every page names it, with a phone number where one was published.
4. Have a second ramp chosen. Each ramp page lists the nearest others with distances, for exactly this.

If our page is wrong, tell us

There is a report button on every ramp page. Someone standing in front of a locked gate knows something no dataset does, and that is the most valuable information we can receive. Reports are read by a person and checked against the managing agency's record before any page changes — so nothing you send appears on the site immediately, and nothing appears unreviewed.