Infos zum Yosemite NP

California's record rain re-ignites Yosemite's famed 'firefall'

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Some visitors to Yosemite National Park this week were delighted to see a glowing ribbon of water that looked like molten lava cascade down Horsetail Fall on El Capitan.
Horsetail Fall doesn't usually flow at this time of year, but the recent severe storms that swept through the area brought it surging back to life and created the phenomenon known as a "firefall."
The "firefall" usually occurs on clear evenings in late February when the setting sun shines through the fall at just the right angle. The event is such a big attraction that Yosemite required online reservations earlier this year to limit crowds.
Park officials said in a Facebook post on Monday that the Yosemite Valley got more than 6 inches of rain in a 36-hour period and that a few feet of snow fell at higher elevations.
Edgar Le, who was visiting from Rochester, New York, told CNN it was "extraordinary" to see the "firefall" on Tuesday while hiking near the Yosemite Lodge.
"Like looking at a stream of lava purging down from the top of the El Capitan," he said. "Seeing the Firefall is more than a miracle to me as a landscape photographer."
San Francisco creative director and photographer Scott Oller heard the "firefall" might be visible on Tuesday, so he left work at about 1 p.m. and made the drive to Yosemite. He told CNN that he got there with about 45 minutes to spare.
Oller said he saw the "firefall" for the first time in February after several failed attempts in previous years.
"The "firefall" is one of the most surreal things I've ever seen," Oller said. "It's almost like watching a total solar eclipse or something, you just freeze up in awe."
He said he found a pullout area about 2,000 feet from Horsetail fall where he could park and get out his gear.
There were only about 10 other people there, which is a lot less crowded than his previous trips.
"In the winter there's just an endless sea of tripods," Oller said.
Oller said that many of the people he saw seemed to be surprised tourists who pulled over their cars because they were amazed by what they were seeing.
"It seems unbelievable that that could even happen and it just keeps getting better and better as the minutes go by," Oller said. "The light turns from gold to fiery orange to a faint pink. It's unreal."
The heavy rain also caused water to roar over the 2,425-foot Yosemite Falls.

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After lucking out in the lottery for a permit to hike Yosemite’s Half Dome, this photographer made these stunning images

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Glacier Point Road Project - 2022 and 2023

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Glacier Point Road will be closed to all traffic in 2022 to rehabilitate and improve the road. The only access to Glacier Point will be via the Four Mile, Panorama, and Pohono Trails, all of which are strenuous hikes. There will be 30-minute delays in 2023.

The existing roadway was completed in 1936, replacing the original wagon road built in 1882. This area attracts high volumes of traffic year-round because it provides access to Bridalveil Creek Campground, Glacier Point, the Badger Pass Ski Area, and numerous trailheads.

Frequently Asked Questions

What road closures will take place?
Construction will take place from spring through fall in 2022 and 2023, unless unforeseen weather extends the project. There will be a full road closure from spring through fall 2022 and 30-minute delays in 2023.

What work will take place with this project?
In addition to pulverizing and paving the entire road from Badger Pass to Glacier Point, intensive road repair would take place in the following key areas:
Repair curves on the road leading down to Glacier Point. This road segment contains steep and narrow hairpin curves that drop 600 feet in elevation in about 1.6 miles. Currently large vehicles cross the double-yellow centerline to navigate the curves.
Address safety hazards at the scenic overlook viewing the Clark Range by improving the pullout.
Repair road areas west of Summit Meadow to prevent the continued settlement of the roadway.
Pave the overflow parking area at the Sentinel Dome trailhead. Current off pavement parking is damaging fragile resources in this high-elevation habitat. This parking area will continue to accommodate the same number of vehicles. Additionally, new accessible vault toilets will be installed at the parking area.
Formalize the McGurk Meadow Trailhead parking area to increase safety.
Repave the Glacier Point parking area. Additionally, two new concrete staircases will be built to connect the upper and lower parking areas and one additional oversize vehicle space will be created.

Why does the road need to be closed?
If the road is not closed completely the first year, it could take an extra year to complete the project, with significant extra cost. Keeping the road open would also jeopardize visitor and worker safety, as the public would traverse narrow roads with steep drop-offs and other hazards. Contractors would complete the large safety repairs the first year, some of which require five-foot deep excavations across the road for thousands of linear feet. The park carefully considered other alternatives to avoid a complete closure the first year.

How will the road closure affect programming at Glacier Point?
There will be no Glacier Point interpretive programs or other special programs such as the symphony and Starry Sky Programs in 2022. All programs will resume in 2023.

Can I hike on the road during construction?
The Four Mile Trail, Pohono Trail, and Panorama Trail will remain open both years, though hikers must stay outside of work zones. Trailheads along the Glacier Point Road will be closed in 2022 and hikers must access trails from connecting trails and trailheads outside the Glacier Point Road corridor. All trails in the southern section of the park will remain open.

Can I bike along the road during construction?
Biking will not be allowed on the Glacier Point Road during construction to protect the safety of bicylists and workers.

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Eigentlich recht spät in diesem Jahr:

Yosemite Closing Tioga/Glacier Passes For Season

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All the Mountain Passes are currently closed due to the winter storm currently blowing through and one will not be reopening any time soon.
With significant snowfall, last night and throughout today Yosemite National Park spokesperson Scott Gediman relays, “We are announcing today the basically season-ending closures of Tioga [Highway 120 Tioga Pass] and Glacier Point roads.”
Those roads are generally closed between November and May, but the exceptionally dry fall has allowed them to remain open longer than usual. Tioga Pass has been closed since mid-November with some icy patches remaining on the roadway from a storm that included an atmospheric river, setting rain records. Glacier Point Road had reopened but was closed yesterday (Dec.8) due to the current inclement weather. Regarding the amount of snow accumulation, Gediman added, “The snow levels depended. We got a couple of inches reported at Tuolumne Meadows and a dusting in Yosemite Valley. It’s nice to get precipitation and we’re expecting significant storms to come in this weekend and into next week.”
As reported here earlier this week, Caltrans officials have not made a decision on whether to close Highway 108 Sonora pass or Highway 4 Ebbetts pass for the winter season and say they will make that decision after inspecting those roadways after the current and incoming storms blow through.

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Yosemite National Park Implements a Temporary Peak-Hours Reservation System Beginning Friday, May 20, 2022

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Yosemite National Park – Beginning Friday, May 20, Yosemite National Park will implement a temporary peak hours reservation system. Building on lessons learned during the summer reservation systems in 2020 and 2021, the peak hours reservation system is designed to spread visitation out and reduce chronic congestion in the park.
Park visitors will need a reservation to enter the park between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven days a week. Visitors entering the park outside of the peak hours are not required to have a reservation.
“A visit to Yosemite should be about enjoying the beautiful granite-lined landscape, not sitting in gridlock,” said Yosemite National Park Superintendent Cicely Muldoon. “Yosemite visitors deserve a high-quality experience in this magnificent place. Our goal with the peak hours system is to ease overcrowding during the busiest times this summer while still offering access for all.”
The park will benefit from multiple major Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and other infrastructure improvement projects in 2022 to repair roads, trails, campgrounds, visitor facilities, and utility systems. This work will involve the closure of several park areas and impact traffic circulation. For example, the Glacier Point Road, Tuolumne Meadows Campground, Crane Flat Campground, and other sites will be closed for extensive repairs throughout 2022.
The peak hours reservation system will be in effect through September 30, 2022, and reservations will be required for all users, including annual and lifetime pass holders. Each reservation is valid for three days. Reservations are available on http://www.recreation.gov beginning at 8 a.m. on March 23, 2022. Each peak hours reservation is valid for one vehicle and the occupants of that vehicle.
Visitors who enter the park before 6 a.m. or after 4 p.m. will be required to pay the park entrance fee and that pass is valid for three days outside of peak hours.
Peak hours reservations are included for all visitors staying overnight in the park. This includes reservations for The Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite Valley Lodge, Curry Village, Wawona Hotel, Housekeeping Camp, and NPS-managed campgrounds. Peak hours reservations are also included for all visitors with wilderness and Half Dome permits and visitors entering the park via YARTS buses and on permitted commercial tours.
“Yosemite’s visitation affects our gateway communities in so many ways,” said Muldoon. “We are grateful for the helping hand our community partners have extended to make this system work better for all.”

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The Green Dragons are running again in Yosemite Valley.

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The Green Dragons are running again in Yosemite Valley. The tour shuttles were shut down for a couple of years due to the pandemic.

The two-hour Yosemite Valley floor tour is a great way to see the beauties of the national park while also learning about its natural and cultural history.

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Cable permits to hike up Half Dome in Yosemite National Park now available

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The cables at Half Dome are going up in Yosemite National Park starting this week.

Officials say the cables will open for the season Thursday, May 19.
Guests will need to get a permit in advance before hiking Half Dome. The first wave of permits for the season is available starting Tuesday.

Visitors wishing to hike up Half Dome can register for a permit at http://www.recreation.gov. The permits are available two days in advance.

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Reservations will be needed to enter Yosemite National Park during peak hours starting Friday.

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Reservations will be needed to enter Yosemite National Park during peak hours starting Friday.
The peak-hour reservation system will be in effect from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., May 20 through Sept. 30 due to many Yosemite construction projects and a temporary reduction in parking.
Peak-hour reservations can be purchased at recreation.gov for $2, required in addition to normal park entrance fees – including for those with annual passes and other special entrance passes.
Over half of the peak-hour reservations that went on sale in March were still available last month. The remaining 30% are being sold daily, seven days in advance of a desired entry.
Entrance reservations are not needed for those entering the popular park in California outside of peak hours. They also aren’t needed for visitors with lodging or camping reservations inside Yosemite, people with Yosemite wilderness or Half Dome permits, Hetch Hetchy visitors, or residents of mountain communities near Yosemite who just want to drive through the park.

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Extraordinary Rainbow Waterfall in Yosemite National Park Captured on Video

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Vandals tags 30 Yosemite National Park sites with graffiti

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Yosemite National Park officials are seeking anyone who may have witnessed vandals tag more than 30 sites in the California park with graffiti.
Vandals last month used white and blue spray paint to draw on boulders and other sites along the Yosemite Falls Trail, park officials said in a Facebook post Sunday.
On May 20, at approximately 8:15 p.m., park rangers received multiple reports of vandalism along the trail. When they assessed the damage the next day, they found more than two dozen places where graffiti had been spray-painted, officials said.
The smallest graffiti measured 1 foot by 1 foot, but most were 3 feet by 3 feet, and a few were larger than 8 feet by 8 feet, they said.
Photos posted on social media show rocks tagged with the word "Fresno" and other illegible writings.
Park officials are asking anyone who was on the trail to the top of Yosemite Falls on May 20 and who saw people carrying cans of spray paint and tagging the area to contact the National Park Service.

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Fire threatening Yosemite's famed grove of giant sequoia trees is still growing

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A growing wildfire that threatens a famed giant sequoia tree grove in California's Yosemite National Park has doubled in size over the past day and pushed officials to issue evacuation orders for a nearby community.
The Washburn Fire began July 7 and has swelled to 1,591 acres as of Sunday morning as it burns near the lower portion of Mariposa Grove, park officials said. A total of 360 fire personnel are working to contain the fire from the ground and air, and park officials said the grove will remain closed until further notice.
"The fire is burning in difficult terrain with continuous heavy fuels in and around the fire," fire officials said on InciWeb, a site for coordinating fire response. "Significant tree mortality from 2013-2015 has left significant dead standing and dead fallen fuels. This also presents significant safety hazards to firefighters."
Weather is forecast to get hotter through the week. However, fire scars from past fires about 1 to 3 miles from the Washburn Fire perimeter will help in slowing it, officials said.
Amid the fire's expansion, park officials urged people in Yosemite's Wawona campground and community to evacuate.
Mariposa Grove is home to more than 500 giant sequoia trees, which can grow to over 250 feet tall. And while the grove was founded in 1857, the trees existed long before that, with some believed to be more than 2,000 years old.
Firefighters have put a sprinkler system around the Grizzly Giant, a famed Sequoia in Mariposa Grove, to protect it from the flames.
Yosemite is one of the most visited national parks in the US, drawing more than 3.3 million people in 2021. It encompasses nearly 1,200 square miles in the Sierra Nevada range in eastern California.
Meanwhile, California crews are also battling the Electra Fire, which has scorched more than 4,400 acres across Amador and Calaveras counties, also in the Sierra Nevada, according to Cal Fire.
The blaze prompted the state's first night-water-drop operation via helicopter Wednesday, when about 12,000 gallons of water were dumped on the flames, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Isaac Sanchez told CNN.
"The helicopter was brought in to assist in the cooling and containment of a firing operation which had taken place earlier in the afternoon," Sanchez said. "While assigned to this operation, the helicopter identified additional areas where the fire had crept over the containment lines and was able to aid in their full extinguishment and containment."
The western US has been ravaged by wildfires in recent years, exacerbated by drought conditions tied to climate change. In California alone, more than 2.5 million acres were destroyed in nearly 9,000 fires last year, according to Cal Fire.
Last month, officials in Southern California said they were bracing for another challenging summer and fall amid a shortage of firefighting crews and increased workloads.
The threat is not limited to California. Robert Garcia, the US Forest Service's fire chief for the Angeles National Forest, said the summer months are off to a "concerning start." Firefighting resources have been mobilizing since March to Arizona and New Mexico, where the Black Fire just became the state's second-largest blaze in history.
"Southern California typically has a fire season of historically late June and then into the fall," Garcia told CNN last month. "But we're seeing activity now year-round."

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3,000-year-old tree among those threatened by Yosemite wildfire

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The 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant is among the hundreds of sequoia trees threatened by a wildfire in Yosemite National Park.
The Grizzly Giant stands over 200 feet tall and is among 500 sequoia trees in the Mariposa Grove, which was evacuated and is closed. The rest of the park remains open.

Officials are using the removal of heavy and fine fuels around the trees and deploying ground-based sprinkler systems to increase the humidity near the trees. The fire is burning in difficult terrain with continuous heavy fuels in and around the fire, National Park officials said.
The fire is also in an area with a lot of fuel left behind from trees that died seven to nine years ago.
The effort to fight the fire is expected to be prolonged as the forecast indicates favorable conditions all week. As of Sunday, the fire consumed 2,340 acres.
One feature of sequoia trees that protect them is sequoias tend to drop their lower branches as they grow taller and older, which helps avoid fire from climbing up to the tops of the trees into the canopy, the National Park said.

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Kalifornien: Notstand für Yosemite-Nationalpark

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Wegen anhaltender Brände wurde nun im kalifornischen Nationalpark Yosemite der Notstand ausgerufen. Mehr als 2.000 Feuerwehrmänner, Löschfahrzeuge und Hubschrauber sind dabei, die Brände unter Kontrolle zu bekommen.
Kunden, die ihre Mobilnummer bei Buchung hinterlegt haben, werden von ihren Veranstaltern informiert. DER Touristik bietet Gästen mit reinen Bausteinleistungen bis 8. August 2022, die von den Bränden betroffen sind, an, umzubuchen oder zu stornieren. Neubuchungen für die betroffenen Gebiete seien derzeit nicht möglich, heißt es von DER Touristik.

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Yosemite National Park Announces the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias will Reopen on Wednesday, August 3, at 8:00 A.M.

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Yosemite National Park Officials report the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias will reopen on Wednesday, August 3, at 8:00 A.M.

The Mariposa Grove shuttle will be operating.
Some areas remain closed:

The Washburn Trail (between the Mariposa Grove Welcome Plaza and the Arrival Area).

The western portion of the Perimeter Trail (from the Galen Clark Tree to near the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail).

The trail from the Mariposa Grove toward Wawona
Please stay on trails: hazards may exist off trail.

Firefighters will continue patrolling the area until the fire is declared out.

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Every year thousands pick up trash in Yosemite, but this year it's become a bona fide movement

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Each year thousands head to Yosemite National Park to clean up the trash left behind, especially by the many summer visitors who come to enjoy nature each year.
The tradition has been around since at least 18 years ago when rock climbers in Yosemite Valley began the latest large campaign. It's now become a movement.
Scott Gediman, a Yosemite spokesman who participated in the cleanup, said, “It’s a great concept, and we’re absolutely thrilled that other parks and public lands and cities and towns have adopted it.” He said, “It’s really grown into a big, wonderful park program.”
The adoption of a steady volunteer clean-up program is seen as a positive thing by many, but parallel to that are also growing calls to speed up the ban of single-use plastics in parks like Yosemite.
As the Fresno Bee reported, Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, announced a Biden administration order in June to phase out single-use plastics for 480 acres of federal lands by 2023.
Haaland said in a statement, “As the steward of the nation’s public lands, including national parks and national wildlife refuges, and as the agency responsible for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats,” the Interior Department is “uniquely positioned to do better for our Earth,”
But now, calls to speed up that phase-out have grown louder.
A study by researchers at Utah state found that the equivalent of 123 million plastic bottles settles on national parklands and other public lands in the western U.S. alone each year.
And researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey released a report that details how tiny plastic particles were found in water samples taken from Rocky Mountain National Park in areas as high up as 10,300 feet.
“It is raining plastic,” a scientist once said.
Next year, for the 20th anniversary of the Yosemite facelift project, organizers say they want to expand the project to 30 cleanup events across North America, which includes sites in Mexico and Canada.

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Letzte Corona-Maßnahme fällt
Besuch im Yosemite Nationalpark bald ohne Anmeldung möglich

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Er gehört zu den beliebtesten Nationalparks der USA: der Yosemite Nationalpark in Kalifornien. Um Zutritt zu erhalten, müssen sich Besucherinnen und Besucher seit Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie vorab anmelden. Im kommenden Jahr soll mit der Reservierungspflicht Schluss sein. Das teilt unter anderem der „San Francisco Chronicle“ mit.
Freuen dürfte die neueste Ankündigung des Parks vor allem Last-Minute-Urlauberinnen und -urlauber. Wenn keine Reservierung mehr erforderlich ist, sind auch spontane Ausflüge in den Nationalpark wieder möglich.Auch für das Hotel- und Gaststättengewerbe in der Nähe des Parks ist das Ende der Anmeldepflicht eine gute Nachricht. Nach Angaben des „Chronicles“ hoffen umliegende Gemeinden wie Mariposa und Oakhurst, dass ohne erforderliche Anmeldung wieder mehr Menschen den Nationalpark besuchen – und damit auch das Geschäft in Hotels, Restaurants und Souvenirläden wieder anzieht.
Eingeführt wurde das Reservierungssystem im Yosemite im Jahr 2020. Nach Ausbruch der Pandemie sollte so die Zahl der Besucherinnen und Besucher kontrolliert und auf etwa die Hälfte der Zahl aus den Vorjahren begrenzt werden – im Jahr 2016 hatte die Besucherzahl einen Höchststand von 5,2 Millionen erreicht. Ein weiterer Grund war der Personalmangel im Park.
In diesem Jahr wurde die maximale Zahl an Besucherinnen und Besuchern bereits wieder nach oben geschraubt – auf 70 Prozent des Verkehrs der Vorkrisenjahre. Zudem ist eine Anmeldung nur noch zwischen 6 und 16 Uhr erforderlich.
2023 sollen die vor drei Jahren eingeführten Regeln ganz fallengelassen werden – ganz vom Tisch ist eine Reservierungspflicht damit aber nicht, so der „San Francisco Chronicle“. Dem Bericht zufolge dürften sich Organisationen wie die National Parks Conservation Association für die Wiedereinführung der Quoten einsetzen. „Wir wollen keine Rückkehr zu den Tagen, in denen Besucher in stundenlangen Verkehrsschlangen stecken, bevor sie auf überfüllten Wegen wandern“, so ein Sprecher der Vereinigung gegenüber dem „Chronicle“.

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Yosemite Ends Park Reservation Requirements to Evaluate Impact on Communities

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Yosemite National Park is breaking a national park trend by not reinstating a summer reservation system. What happens to the park's visitor experience and local ecosystems could influence other national parks to reconsider theirs.

Yosemite National Park will not have a reservation system for the summer of 2023 and will embark on a process of gathering community input as whether it should to reinstate it in the future. Yosemite put a reservation system in place for two years because of the pandemic and continued it because of park construction projects. But the reservation requirement set off a chain of consequences for local communities, including traffic jams because cars weren’t allowed to drive through the park.
So Yosemite will not be reinstating a reservation system this upcoming summer, breaking the trend among U.S. national parks to limit visitor access. During that time, it will be gathering feedback and insight from communities, a practice that underscores a Skift megatrend that communities are no longer spectators in travel.
The U.S. National Park Service made the reservation removal announcement in November. Reservations at Yosemite were required in the summers of 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Last summer, the park required day-trip visitors during peak hours of 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. to make a reservation in advance.

The program was kept in place last summer due to construction projects, which included a welcome center, campground rehabilitation, expanded parking and road repairs, which will contribute to visitor experience.
Starting this winter, Yosemite will conduct a public scoping process, according to Jonahthan Farrington, executive director of Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, the destination marketing organization for Mariposa County, one of the four counties Yosemite National Park spans.
Under the public scoping process, Yosemite will gather feedback from businesses, communities and the public at large over the course of the year to develop a plan for the park’s future, which could result in a new reservation system. One of the topics that will likely be brought up are the indirect consequences of the park’s restricted entry and construction projects, which caused resulting car congestion on local highways and roads because cars couldn’t drive through the park during peak hours without a reservation, according to Farrington.
Yosemite’s reservation removal is an exception to a general trend among national parks. “The greater trend is going to be towards higher levels of restriction just because of the sheer number of visitors that are visiting our national parks,” said Wildland Trekking co-founder Scott Cundy.
During the pandemic, visitors flocked to national parks in record numbers, causing overtourism, a Skift megatrend has highlighted. In response, many national parks required restrictive booking windows, often between 30 and 60 days to manage the large crowds.
Yosemite saw 3.3 million visits in 2021, up from 2.3 million in 2020 but far from the high point of 5 million in 2016. Around 60 percent of visitors come during the summer period, said Farrington.
The end of restrictions will mean an economic boost for local counties, especially for Mariposa, where tourism employs 50 percent of the county’s residents. “Many of the hotels and other businesses, they’re only profitable during a five-month period and then the other seven months out of the year, they’re just trying to keep their costs down low and survive until the next season,” Farrington said. “A reservation system reducing access by as much as 40 percent is a pretty big deal.”
Under the reservation system, the visitor experience had a significant upgrade. “The valley has been way less crowded, much less traffic,” Cundy said. “For anyone who visited, they had a pretty much higher level experience.”
Not limiting visitors could run the risk of not only taking away from the experience but also wearing down the park’s infrastructure and environment. “Without the reservation system, you’re trying to jam four to five million visitors a year into really a small space so I think it’s hard on the park infrastructure and on the land,” Cundy said.
Yosemite Public Information Officer Scott Gediman told Mariposa Gazette that officials will definitely be doing “a lot of monitoring” of the park this upcoming summer to see how the policy plays out.

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Horsetail Fall: February 2023 Reservation Requirements

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Horsetail Fall can glow orange when it's backlit by sunset, which can make it appear to be on fire. This unique lighting effect happens only on evenings with a clear sky when the waterfall is flowing and when the sun is at the right angle in mid– to late February. This event attracts many visitors to a small area, causing traffic congestion, parking issues, safety concerns, and impacts to natural and cultural resources.

In order to manage this event, reservations will be required for entry to Yosemite 24 hours per day on: February 10–12, 2023 February 17–19, 2023 February 24–26, 2023

Reservations will be required at Camp 4, Wawona, and Hodgdon Meadow Campgrounds from February 1 through February 28 (these campgrounds normally operate on a first-come, first-served basis in February). All February reservations for Wawona, Camp 4, and Hodgdon Meadow Campgrounds will be released on December 15 at 7 am on Recreation.gov.

Horsetail Fall flows over the eastern edge of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. This small waterfall usually flows only during winter and is easy to miss. On rare occasions during mid- to late February, it can glow orange when it's backlit by sunset. This unique lighting effect happens only on evenings with a clear sky when the waterfall is flowing. Even some haze or minor cloudiness can greatly diminish or eliminate the effect. Although entirely natural, the phenomenon is reminiscent of the human-caused Firefall that historically occurred from Glacier Point.

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Yosemite national park shut indefinitely after breaking 54-year daily snow record

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Nearly unprecedented levels of snow have buried the park, with the powder piling up to 15ft deep in some areas

Yosemite national park has closed indefinitely, according to officials, as the park grapples with extensive snowfall that broke a 54-year-old daily record.

Nearly unprecedented snowfall across the US west has buried the park in snow up to 15ft deep in some areas. Parts of the west coast have seen record-breaking snow in recent days in what officials are calling a “once in a generation” event.

The mountains of California have received so much snowfall – more than 40ft since the start of the season – that entire towns have shut down. The California governor has declared a state of emergency in 13 counties due to the unusual precipitation.

Yosemite has been closed for the last five days due to the extreme weather and was previously scheduled to reopen on Thursday. Officials do not yet have an estimated date of reopening.

There was “significant snowfall in all areas of the park”, the park said on Twitter. Photos show snow blanketing Half Dome, completely blocking doorways of buildings and nearly burying tents.

On Tuesday, Yosemite broke daily snowfall record with 40in of snow, officials told the San Francisco Chronicle, exceeding a record set in 1969. Park crews are working to clear roads and restore “critical services” before visitors can return.

“We’re committed to opening the park as soon as we can do it in a safe manner,” Scott Gediman, a park spokesperson, told the newspaper. “While we certainly welcome the snow, it’s created a lot of challenges.”

The Sierra Nevada has seen significant snowfall – as well as avalanches – that has made travel through the mountains almost impossible. With another storm on the way, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of “extensive travel impacts”.

“Once again, expect the travel delays and road closures not only across the Sierra, but also into western Nevada through Sunday morning,” the NWS Reno office said.

Meanwhile, Joshua Tree national park reopened on Thursday after closing due to a winter storm the day before.

Dirt roads in the park remain closed and officials advised visitors to be cautious, warning that water and ice may be present on the roads.

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Yosemite extends park closure into at least next Thursday

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Yosemite National Park is extending their closure through at least next Thursday, according to park officials.

The park has dealing with extreme snow for weeks. While it means some rare scenery, it also means more danger, and more difficulty running the park.

According to a post by the national park's official Twitter account, a partial reopening on March 17 is "a best-case scenario." In the same post, the park also said they will be providing an update late next week.

The park also noted that the Tuolomne Meadows winter rangers were alive and well despite dealing with 133 inches of new snow since February 21.

Officials shut down the park indefinitely due to severe winter conditions on March 1. It has not been open since then.

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Yosemite National Park to partially reopen Saturday

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After closures due to heavy snowfall, Yosemite National Park will be partially restoring public access starting Saturday.

The announcement came in a post on Yosemite's official Facebook page, just a day after the closure was estimated to go on until next Thursday at the earliest.

The park will be open from sunrise to sunset starting Saturday, with very limited services available. The only access to Yosemite Valley will be via Highway 140 and El Portal Road, with a short detour in El Portal. Hetch Hetchy will reopen from 8 am to 5 pm daily, but will only be accessible via Highway 120 west of Yosemite and Evergreen Road. All other roads and areas of the park, including Big Oak Flat and Wawona Roads, will remain closed.

While several miles of paved pedestrian paths in Yosemite Valley are plowed, all hiking trails are still covered in snow. The park advises visitors to wear waterproof boots and traction devices, as even plowed paths can be icy. Hiking on snow-covered trails is not recommended.

Winter weather is again in the forecast next week, so the reopening announcement is tentative. However, conditions permitting, Yosemite Valley will open 24 hours per day starting Monday, March 20, with limited overnight lodging. Campgrounds are still buried in snow and will not open immediately. Visitors should be prepared for the possibility of road closures and tire chain requirements. Please call 209/372-0200 (then 1, 1) to check road conditions.

The park has been closed since February 25 due to a series of storms that damaged roads and other facilities. Since February 21, when the series of storms started, Yosemite Valley has received over 21 inches of liquid precipitation and Tuolumne Meadows has received over 15 feet of new snow. The park has documented 22 rockslides, debris flows, and other slope failures along park roads during this time, most of which have been mitigated.

Other services and areas of the park will reopen as park recovery efforts such as these continue.

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