Yosemite hotels, restaurants close due to coronavirus. Sequoia also announces closures
A number of Yosemite National Park facilities closed Tuesday to lessen the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading to park visitors and employees of the popular California park.
“As a result of guidance provided by the National Park Service and public health officials, all lodging, tours and dining facilities in Yosemite National Park are temporarily closing” starting Tuesday “as a precaution due to coronavirus concerns,” wrote the park’s concessionaire, Yosemite Hospitality, a subsidiary of Aramark, in a statement.
Park Service officials said Tuesday that visitor centers, along with the theater and museum in Yosemite Valley, were also closed. Shuttle buses aren’t running, and ranger-guided programs were canceled. On Wednesday, the park announced its two open campgrounds, Upper Pines and Camp 4 Campground, had also closed.
The park remained open.
The temporary closures are anticipated to last at least through March 31.
Mariposa and Tuolumne County public health departments, which cover Yosemite, reported on their websites that there are currently no confirmed coronavirus cases in their counties.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4,226 coronavirus cases in the U.S. and 75 deaths from the contagious virus across the country, as of Tuesday afternoon.
National Park Service and Aramark officials did not return requests for comment about the Yosemite closures.
The park had more than 4.5 million visitors last year. The Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley and the Wawona Hotel in Wawona are two of the park’s best-known hotels.
To the south, nearby Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks also announced closures.
That park’s concessionaire, Delaware North, wrote in a statement that it would close its park lodges and restaurants starting Wednesday, through April 1. Park Service visitor centers, along with Giant Forest Museum, Pear Lake Ski Hut, and the park’s wilderness office, are also closed.
Yosemite employees await information
Some Yosemite employees received information about the closures Monday night in an email.
In that email, an Aramark leader wrote the closures would start at noon Tuesday, in “response to the CDC recommendation of social-distancing to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.”
The email from Aramark to Yosemite employees also stated the start dates for employees would be delayed until at least March 31 and that “employees coming back into the park” will not be allowed to check into Yosemite housing until an opening date is confirmed with the Park Service.
For employees already in the park, the message continued, visitors are not permitted in Yosemite housing areas for the next 90 days.
What is open in Yosemite?
“Where it is possible to adhere to the latest health guidance, Yosemite National Park’s entrances, hiking trails, and the outdoor spaces around the Yosemite Village will remain open,” Yosemite officials announced in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
NPS leaders announced Wednesday that visitors can go to open national parks for free until further notice.
Grocery stores are open in Yosemite Valley, Wawona and El Portal, along with gas stations in Wawona, Crane Flat and El Portal.
Digital park interpretive services are available via the park’s free app and its website, nps.gov/yose.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 7:07 PM.
