Local destinations begin to reopen
JUST KEEP AN EYE ON THE RESTRICTIONS AND THE WEATHER
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s rollback of statewide COVID-19 rules on Monday startled local officials, park rangers, hoteliers, restaurateurs and others. Within minutes they were scrambling to reopen lodgings, campgrounds and restaurants. ¶ But in some cases — especially in Yosemite National Park — the reopening effort was complicated by fresh damage from winter storms. Some sites, such as the Inn at Death Valley, were expected to reopen by Friday. For others, including portions of Yosemite National Park, the timetable remains uncertain. Most California state park campgrounds remain closed. A spokesman said the agency was consulting with state and local health officials and “appreciates the public’s patience as it prepares to increase access” to the state park system. Now that the state has stepped back from the regional stay-at-home orders that banned overnight vacations and closed restaurant patios in most of the state, county officials are deciding what businesses can open and how they will be allowed to operate. ¶ Most counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Mono, since Monday have reverted to previous “purple tier” restrictions that permit leisure travelers to stay overnight at hotels and other lodgings. A spokesman for the California Hotel & Lodging Assn., Pete Hillan, said he was unaware of any counties still forbidding overnight vacations. Here are some places starting to reopen:
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
In Death Valley, the Inn at Death Valley and Ranch at Death Valley, both run by the Xanterra Travel Collection as the Oasis, were expected to open Friday. The resort’s restaurant operations were to reopen that day as well.
Death Valley National Park spokeswoman Abigail Wines said the park was expected to open the following campgrounds, also on Friday: Furnace Creek, Texas Springs, Sunset, Saline Valley, Eureka Dunes and Homestake. That leaves Stovepipe Wells, Emigrant, Wildrose, Thorndike and Mahogany Flat campgrounds closed, with no reopening date set.
Wines said that Stovepipe Wells hotel will reopen soon, but managers must first rehire employees.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
Yosemite National Park officials said they hoped to open western entrances to the park Monday, but major wind damage in the Wawona and Mariposa Grove areas, including dozens of felled trees and damaged or destroyed structures, will keep the park’s southern entrance, Wawona Road (Highway 41), closed for much longer.
“We are anticipating several weeks” before visitors can enter from the south, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. As of Wednesday, he said, electricity was still out in the Wawona area.
Also, there are so many downed trees along Glacier Point Road, Gediman said, that “we have not been up that road yet.”
For Monday’s reopening, Gediman said, the entrances admitting traffic will be El Portal Road (Highway 140), Hetch Hetchy Road and Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120), which enters the park from the west. Visitors will have access to Yosemite Valley.
Besides the closure of Wawona Road, several other areas south of Yosemite Valley will be closed to visitors, including Mariposa Grove, Badger Pass, Wawona and Tunnel View.
In reopening, Yosemite is returning to 24-hour operations and has dropped its requirement for advance dayuse reservations. The park had been on restricted hours.
The Yosemite Valley Lodge and the Ahwahnee Hotel are set to reopen Feb. 5.
The park’s Upper Pines Campground will reopen Feb. 8.
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK
Joshua Tree National Park, which like Yosemite is coping with storm damage and evolving COVID restrictions, started reopening campgrounds Thursday.
Its popular Hidden Valley Campground has reopened on a first-come, first-served basis. The Cottonwood, Cottonwood Group Camp, Indian Cove, Indian Cove Group Camp, Black Rock and Black Rock Equestrian campgrounds are also expected to be open for reservations.
The park’s Belle, Ryan, Jumbo Rocks, Sheep Pass and White Tank campgrounds are to open Monday.
CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK
Island Packers, the Venturabased concession that runs year-round boat trips to the park’s islands, resumed service on Friday. For now, boats are unable to call at the not-quitecompleted pier at Santa Cruz Island’s Scorpion Anchorage.
Channel Islands Adventure Co. said it hopes to resume offering kayak tours at Scorpion Anchorage on Feb. 9.
Island Packers also has resumed offering gray-whalewatching trips from Ventura Harbor and Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, with its boats operating at reduced capacity.
A national park spokeswoman said most of its campgrounds (except for Scorpion Anchorage) were expected to reopen Friday.
PALM SPRINGS RESORTS
In Riverside County, the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau told its members that hotels and other lodging can resume accepting leisure travelers, restaurants can resume outdoor dining, and zoos and museums can restart outdoor operations.
SAN DIEGO ZOO
The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park is reopening Saturday for visitors who have advance-purchase tickets.
ORANGE COUNTY
Disneyland’s website said the hotels at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim will “remain closed and will reopen at a later date.”
Also in Orange County, the Montage Laguna Beach hotel said it is accepting reservations from leisure travelers, with plans to reopen some outdoor dining areas soon.
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
A new county health order allows lodging for leisure travelers.