Yosemite National Park will open for those with wilderness and Half Dome permits
Yosemite National Park will open Friday to backpackers with existing wilderness permits and those with permits to hike Half Dome, park officials announced Tuesday.
Yosemite officials have not said when the popular national park will reopen to other visitors. Park spokespeople told The Bee earlier Tuesday that they do not have an estimate for when that will be announced.
Wilderness permits to access the park’s backcountry trails and sites are different from campground reservations, where visitors can drive up to campsites. Day hiking on Yosemite trails also is not part of this reopening phase.
The short announcement was made on Yosemite’s Facebook page. Park officials said they continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and will increase Yosemite access using a phased approach.
“When recreating, the public should follow local area health orders, practice Leave No Trace principles, avoid crowding and avoid high-risk outdoor activities,” the park wrote.
Yosemite has been closed to the public since late March.
Lodging and tour reservations through Yosemite’s concessionaire, Yosemite Hospitality, a subsidiary of Aramark, are canceled at least through June 10. An Aramark spokesperson previously said reopening plans will be announced by the National Park Service.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks officials to the south announced last weekend they will start reopening services Thursday.
Yosemite’s proposed reopening plan
On May 18, park officials, including acting Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon, presented a detailed proposed reopening plan with community members during a public conference call. Muldoon said Yosemite would reopen when the state moves into stage 3, which includes non-essential travel – and that might happen in early June.
The proposed reopening plan, which was awaiting final government approval, proposes initially reopening the park with about half its normal number of visitors. For the first time, day-use reservations would be required to enter the park, except for those with camping or lodging reservations. Day-use reservations would be made through recreation.gov, and have not yet been announced.
The number of vehicles initially allowed in Yosemite would be capped at about 3,600 a day – 1,700 day use, and 1,900 overnight vehicle spots.
Tourism leaders’ concerns
Local tourism bureaus in Mariposa and Madera counties released a statement Monday voicing concerns with the plan, including “that there is no commitment to a timetable to reassess the plan and lift restrictions to Yosemite National Park as health concerns are reduced.”
Among their concerns is that the proposed day-use reservation system will continue after major COVID-19 health risks have passed.
They want more vehicles to be allowed in the park. Tourism leaders said they believe even fewer than 50% of normal visitors will come to Yosemite because many won’t show up after making a reservation to visit. Shuttles not operating in Yosemite Valley this year is another of their concerns.
Rhonda Salisbury, chief executive officer of Visit Yosemite | Madera County said the day-use vehicle entries into the park are based on “very conservative evaluations of the existing figures.”
“Being safe, while also still being respectful of the local economy is what we hope to achieve in partnership with the National Park Service,” Salisbury said.
They said the new day-use reservation system – what tourism leaders expect will only open 48 hours to 30 days ahead of a visit – will exclude many international travelers who often plan their Yosemite trips a year in advance.
”Safety is our number one concern, for NPS, concession staff and the public,” said Jonathan Farrington, executive director of Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau. “Creating a revised COVID-19 operating plan for a park which sees four million visitors annually is not a simple task. However, the draft plan is filled with unknowns. Our effort here is to work with the Park Service to have a clear path forward through the various stages of recovery that support the gateway communities.”
Tourism leaders also said 94% of the park is wilderness, with more than 800 miles of trails, and that social distancing should be easily achieved in areas outside Yosemite Valley.
Yosemite spokespeople told The Bee on Tuesday that they did not have a response regarding the news release from the tourism bureaus.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 7:15 PM.
