Wildfires at National Parks Leave Tourists Stranded Outdoors

Wildfires Chase Away Yosemite Tourists

Now nearby national parks struggle with long lines water shortages and crowding

ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo The Ferguson fire is keeping many summer tourists from visiting Yosemite National Park. Park lovers who want to spend time in California’s Sierra Nevada will find options limited and crowded thanks to wildfires threatening the famed Yosemite National Park. The Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks south of Yosemite have faced a wave of travelers who couldn’t get into their intended destination, says Sintia Kawasaki-Yee, public affairs officer for the two parks. “We’ve been seeing longer lines, especially at the Kings Canyon entrance gate, which is how you would come down from Yosemite to our parks,” she says. Parking lots in some areas “are just completely overrun,” she says, and the park has urged tour buses to stay away. “We already have limited parking and limited bus parking,” Kawasaki-Yee says. The two parks combined drew just under 2 million visitors last year, according to the National Park Service; Yosemite drew more than 4.3 million. (July visitor figures for the national parks won’t be available until mid-August.) In addition to the crowding, is an issue. The park service put out alerts Tuesday and Wednesday saying “continued smoke” would be visible in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon parks “primarily due to the Ferguson fire,” which is the name given to the Yosemite fire that began July 13. It also issued ozone advisories, saying people with lung disease, children and older adults, and people who are active outdoors “should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.” Kawasaki-Yee reports water shortages due to high demand in the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon, which includes a visitors center and campgrounds. “We’re really discouraging people from going to Cedar Grove, specifically this week,” she says. Water is supplied to the area from a storage tank that needs to be replenished. The Ferguson fire had grown to more than 57,000 acres as of Tuesday morning, according to the park service. Two firefighters — one of whom was sent to Yosemite from his usual station at Sequoia/Kings Canyon — have died. Large swaths of the park have been closed, including popular spots such as Yosemite Valley, Wawona Road, the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, the Merced Grove of Giant Sequoias, and a number of campgrounds. The park service announced Yosemite Valley would open no earlier than Sunday, with some other parts of the park closed indefinitely. after a three-year, $40 million renovation project. The wildfire is among more than a dozen burning through California and southern Oregon. That includes the massive Carr fire in northern California, which has topped 110,000 acres, killed at least eight people and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes. Travelers to the area who can’t change their vacation plans may find some financial relief if they bought travel insurance. Chris Buggy, vice president of marketing for travel insurance company Travelex, says they may be able to get insurance payments for trip interruptions or cancellations. However, travel insurance coverage varies widely and the date of purchase is important — if the insurance is purchased after a wildfire starts and is declared a “known event,” there likely is no coverage, she says.

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