Yosemite National Park is limiting entry to its south entrance because of a continuing problem with feces and trash along popular routes in the park. Only visitors with lodging or camping reservations in Yosemite Valley and other park sites will be allowed in on California Highway 41 north of Oakhurst.
Rangers will staff a checkpoint to enforce restrictions from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the highway, also known as Wawona Road, a news release from park officials said Wednesday. All other visitors may enter farther north along El Portal Road, or California Highway 140.
The road limitations mean it may take longer for visitors to get to popular places within the park, such as the Ski & Snowboard Area at Badger Pass, which remains open because it is run by a private company.
Park officials blamed the closure on “continuing issues with human waste and resource damage” related to the partial federal government shutdown that began Dec. 22. Two campgrounds and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias were shut Monday because of hazards posed by visitors relieving themselves on the sides of roads.
National parks in the West remain open without collecting fees, but visitor centers and bathrooms have been shut and trash services suspended because most park staff have been on furlough since the funding pause.
