RIM FIRE HAS LITTLE EFFECT ON MUCH OF YOSEMITE
As firefighters battle the Rim Fire at the northwestern edge of California’s Yosemite National Park, the rest of the park remains virtually unaffected by the blaze. Tourism officials say that while the fire continues to dominate headlines, most Yosemite travellers can still visit the park and never even known about the drama playing out on the other side. “People don’t realize just how incredibly large Yosemite is,” said Jarrod Lyman of the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau, the entity responsible for marketing Yosemite’s southern entrance and surrounding Madera County. “Yosemite is the size of Rhode Island, and the fire is only impacting one area of the park.”
The majority of fire activity happening is near Lake Eleanor and the Hetch Hetchy area. While all of Yosemite has seen about 1.47 million visitors as of June of this year, Hetch Hetchy only recorded fewer than 22,000 visitors, a small percentage of the park visitation. The most popular part of the park, Yosemite Valley remains virtually smoke free. That means visitors can take in the famous views without the Rim Fire having any effect on their trip.
“We’ve been directing visitors to the Yosemite Conservancy web cams which show up-to-date images of some of the valley’s top attractions, and without fail guests have come away happy knowing their vacation plans don’t need to be changed. Popular spots such as the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia, Wawona, Glacier Point, Tunnel View and all of Yosemite Valley are open and there are no restrictions or affects from the fire,” Lyman said. (http://www.YosemiteConservancy.com)
