Tricks can salvage trips to Yosemite, national parks
Amid the Summer of COVID19 and the strangest year ever for national parks, there is a series of hidden portals into Yosemite and other national parks in California that can save your summer vacation.
At Yosemite, for instance, where a dayuse reservation system has kept many from making the trip, a ticket on a bus run by the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System can get you into the valley without a park reservation.
In the Redwood Empire, wellknown campgrounds are virtually booked into August. But six offthegrid trail camps, some with a few as two to five sites, are available by permit.
If there was ever a time to do your detective work to visit a national park, this is it. Here is your guide to taking advantage of national parks in the region.
Yosemite
The required dayuse reservation system, at Recreation. gov, means a 50% reduction in people in Yosemite Valley. As long as you get the ticket in, it means you can find parking.
A loophole for access is to reserve with YARTS, the public transit system out of Mariposa (and other cities), where you take the bus to Yosemite Valley and do not need an additional park entry reservation. YARTS is operating at reduced capacity, 30 per bus, 22 by reservation at Yarts.com. The best prospect available for overnight use is the lottery for Wilderness Permits. Trailhead permits for overnight treks are available 15 days in advance of your launch date at Yosemite.org.
Lodging is open at the Yosemite Valley Lodge, Curry Village and The Ahwahnee, but all are sold out until September. For car camping, only Upper Pines, at 50% capacity, in Yosemite Valley and Wawona Horse Camping are open and long booked. The shuttle service in the park is shut down.
In the wilderness, all trails are open, with only patchy snow at the highest, shaded elevations. In Yosemite Valley, the waterfalls are waning, with Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil, Vernal and Nevada more than wisps but far less than peak.
Lassen
Park camps, camping cabins, trailheads and wilderness are 100% open. For camping, firstcome, firstserved sites are available at Butte Lake, Juniper Lake and Warner Valley, with best space available Sunday through Wednesday nights. Along the main park corridor, the Lassen Park Highway, trailhead parking has often filled by midmorning. All campsites at Manzanita Lake and Summit Lake are by reservation only, and all cabins at Manzanita Lake are reserved this month.
The trail to Bumpass Hell geothermal area, the park’s most popular hike, has opened for the season. In the backcountry, the Pacific Crest Trail is snowfree. The Lassen Peak Trail is clear to the rim, with a snowfield remaining in the caldera at the foot of the plugdome summit.
After incidents in which a cashier and several customers engaged at close range without masks or a barrier, the park closed all visitor centers and museums. After a river otter attacked a kayaker at Manzanita Lake, all swimming, wading and the use of softshell kayaks and other inflatables are not allowed. Out of the Summit Lake Trailhead, several aggressive bears that were raiding campers’ food stashes have closed camping at Twin and Rainbow lakes.
Redwood
All trails are open, including the worldclass hike by permit only into the Tall Trees, with a quota of 50 permits per day; permits are available online via email, a maximum of a week in advance, for a minimum of 48 hours, through a link at www.nps.gov/redw. Backcountry hikein camps are available by permit at six trail camps, some with as few as two sites available.
For car camping, campgrounds at Elk Prairie and Gold Bluffs Beach at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith State Park, and Mill Creek are open with reservations at www.reservecalifornia.com.
A few destinations in the Redwood Empire are closed. They include the large visitor information centers, parking areas for the Klamath River Overlook, Flint Ridge, Alder Camp and High Bluffs.
Pinnacles
Get there early, and if camping, hit the trails at dawn. From either of the access roads into Pinnacles National Park, once parking fills (usually by 11 a.m.), rangers will block vehicles and send them back (no waiting lines of cars are permitted). The campground, with access through the eastern entrance, is open with reservations required at www.recreation.gov.
A heat warning was issued for hikers this week, with temperatures forecast in the mid90s. With morning lows in the mid50s, it’s advisable to break camp at dawn to explore the prehistoric landscape with its volcanic crags, ledges and spires. The cave trails are closed. The nature center and visitor centers are closed and shuttle services are shut down.
SequoiaKings Canyon
Passes to enter the park are available in advance through the park’s website, www.nps. gov/seki. All roads, trails and trailheads into wilderness are open.
For camping, the best bet is to venture into wilderness, where backpackers must have a trailhead reservation, with no walkup permits available; the protocols and application are available at www.nps.gov/seki.
For drivein campsites, Potwisha, Lodgepole and Sunset campgrounds are open by reservation only at www. recreation.gov, and all other drivein campgrounds are closed. Parking is filling at popular sites by mid to late morning.
Cedar Grove Lodge is shut down. The popular shuttle bus, the Sequoia Shuttle to the Sherman Tree, is not operating. Crystal Cave is closed.