Yosemite National Park closing due to smoke, hazardous air caused by California wildfires
Yosemite National Park will close at 5 p.m. Thursday due to smoke and hazardous air quality caused by California wildfires, officials announced.
Kings Canyon National Park to the south also announced it will close at the same time.
Sequoia National Park, which shares a border with Sequoia, closed to visitors Tuesday in response to the Castle Fire on the SQF Complex.
Spokespeople said Yosemite, which is located closer to the Creek Fire, is closing in alignment with those other park closures and the closure of surrounding national forests.
The Creek Fire was growing north, closer to Yosemite’s southern boundary. It remained outside of Yosemite late Thursday afternoon, a park spokesperson said. There are also smaller fires burning in Yosemite’s High Sierra, including the Bluejay Fire.
The Yosemite closures include all roads and park entrance stations.
“With air quality projected to be in the unhealthy to hazardous range over the next several days, the park anticipates the closure to be in effect at least throughout the weekend,” officials announced Thursday afternoon. “The park will continue to assess the smoke impacts, air quality index, and fire activity throughout the region. Yosemite National Park will reopen to visitors when conditions improve, and it is safe for visitors and employees to be in Yosemite National Park.”
Yosemite spokespeople said more information about air quality and smoke impacts in the area is available at fire.airnow.gov.
Yosemite road and weather conditions are updated on its website, Facebook page, or by calling 209-372-0200 and pressing 1.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 2:59 PM.
