OAKHURST – The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the National Park Service to make adjustments to how park visitors access Yosemite this summer. But there’s a silver lining: Park visitors are reporting more intimate, leisurely –and safe — experiences. Each day 1,700 day-use park passes are available via online reservation. While the situation is not ideal when passes sell out, local ...

Long before YARTS existed, daily automobile shuttles ran from Madera to Wawona on the road we call Miami Mountain Road today. Before that, it was an old stage route and I had been walking up parts of it the past few months. This time I visited the locations where some of the people that I had written about died and ...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK — Park officials are reversing course two weeks after reopening and now say they will hold off on allowing visitor use of half a dozen popular park campgrounds until at least August 1.The decision comes after a spike in new coronavirus cases across the state since the Memorial Day weekend. Late Tuesday evening, park officials issued this ...

COARSEGOLD — Local CAL FIRE crews mobilized Monday afternoon to fight a vegetation fire that sparked in the hills just off Highway 41 at Morava Road.An air tanker and helicopter were also used to extinguish the brush fire before it could threaten any structures. Madera County Fire Chief Matt Watson estimated Monday’s blaze at about 10 acres. “We’ve got the ...

MOUNTAIN AREA — The Sierra National Forest (SNF) is increasing forest access for the public by opening additional developed recreational opportunities across the forest, including twenty-three campgrounds that will open today (June 18). “Visitors are encouraged to check the Forest website and social media pages for the most up-to-date information on what is open so that you can plan your ...

APTOS — On Wednesday, a contingent of deputies from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office traveled to Santa Cruz County to honor the memory of Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller — and support his grieving widow and law enforcement family in uniform. Sgt. Gutzwiller, 38, was shot and killed June 6 as he and other deputies investigated reports of a suspicious vehicle. A ...

BUTTE COUNTY — PG&E pleaded guilty Tuesday to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully sparking the Camp Fire. The deadliest blaze in California’s history, the Camp Fire burned for 17 days in November 2018, scorching more than 150,000 acres, destroying of the town of Paradise and killing 85 people.As part of Tuesday’s court proceeding, which took ...

It was the first day that Yosemite National Park had reopened after the COVID-19 shutdown, a new Day Use Entry system was in place and I was determined to cross through the gate as soon as I could to check out the waterfalls. My adventures always have a surprise or two and this one delivered some.Where: Yosemite National ParkDistance: 10.92 ...

SAN FRANCISCO — The Judicial Council of California voted Wednesday 17-2 to end the state’s controversial “zero dollar” bail schedule on June 20.The temporary measure allowed those accused of lower-level crimes to be released from jail without paying any bail. The Judicial Council said the measure was intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 in jails and surrounding communities but ...

FISH CAMP – Let the summertime fun officially begin — the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, located only four miles from the south gate of Yosemite National Park, opens for the season today. Beginning Friday (June 12), visitors and train enthusiasts can once again ride the open-air “logger” on a one-hour excursion through the Sierra Nevada. The Thornberry Museum, onsite ...