Yosemite National Parks

National parks and monuments, national forests and other wild places will waive admission fees Saturday in honor of National Public Lands Day. The idea is to encourage people to get out and see these natural places and maybe even work to help preserve them. The deal: Not all parks and forests charge fees for admission, but those that do will be free. For example, Death Valley National Park usually charges $20 per car or $10 for those entering on foot or bicycle. Same price for Sequoia & Kings Canyon and Yosemite national parks.

SACRAMENTO -- State lawmakers are supporting a proposal to expand Yosemite National Park by 1,600 acres, restoring land stripped of its protection by Congress in 1906. The state Senate approved a resolution this week that asks the federal government to approve the expansion. “This is a great day for Yosemite,” said Nathan Weaver, a spokesman for Environment California, which supported the resolution. “We applaud work by California's leaders to preserve and strengthen Yosemite, one of the world's most beautiful” parks.

A rockslide killed one person and injured four others Sunday night near a village housing Yosemite National Park employees, a park spokesman said. The slide occurred about 7:35 p.m. when rocks broke loose from the west shoulder of the Glacier Point apron, spokesman Bob Roney said. The identity of the person killed was not immediately known. "Right now we have every spare park ranger or other employee involved in search and rescue operation," Roney said.

The majestic landscape of Yosemite National Park - carved out of granite and shaped by powerful natural forces over the eons - is timeless and untouchable. Other attractions in the park … not so much. Some of Yosemite's much-loved amenities, including swimming pools, bike, horse and raft rentals, and an ice skating rink, would be jettisoned under a plan to restore the Merced River corridor to a more natural state. The Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan would reconfigure much of the Yosemite Valley by removing or relocating familiar concessions.

The majestic landscape of Yosemite National Park - carved out of granite and shaped by powerful natural forces over the eons - is timeless and untouchable. Other attractions in the park … not so much. Some of Yosemite's much-loved amenities, including swimming pools, bike, horse and raft rentals, and an ice skating rink, would be jettisoned under a plan to restore the Merced River corridor to a more natural state. The Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan would reconfigure much of the Yosemite Valley by removing or relocating familiar concessions.

In Yosemite National Park , summer crowds have long dissipated. And now is good time to think about visiting the California park, where you'll find bargain room rates this month and in December in Yosemite Valley and nearby. Sure, it may get nippy, but the scenery is gorgeous and the atmosphere is peaceful. The deal: Live it up at the venerable Ahwahnee , a AAA four-diamond hotel, where nightly room rates in December drop as low as $199 per night from as high as $469 in the high season.

1994 * Ansel Adams owns Yosemite Valley, photographically. His pictures have made this California landmark an international destination for tourists, many of whom, like the one seen here, are photo hobbyists trying to make Ansel Adamses of their own. The picture of this sightseer was made by a streetwise New York photographer who was prospecting for a different kind of gold, trying to stake his own claim on Yosemite.

If you want to cover a lot of spectacular high-country terrain at California's Yosemite National Park without lugging a heavy pack, try letting a mule do the hard part. The park's stables at Tuolumne Meadows have added a custom overnight mule trip to the area's scenic Water Wheel Falls. The trips will begin after the stables open for the season, which is typically around the same time as the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge opens. That date depends on conditions; it is tentatively set for July 8 . Water Wheel Falls is a backpacker destination that is made easily accessible by riding the mules.

Ladies and gentlemen, don your raincoats. Conditions may be just right in the coming days for a moonbow at Yosemite National Park. A moonbow, also called a lunar rainbow, occurs, oddly enough, at night. The Yosemite National Park website says an optimal view is the result of  "clear skies, enough water in Yosemite Fall to create sufficient mist, dark skies, bright moonlight not blocked by the surrounding mountains, and the correct rainbow geometry. " I can make no iron-clad promises, but Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said conditions look right: There is a lot of runoff at Yosemite Fall, the snow pack is enormous and the weather is warm.

SACRAMENTO -- State lawmakers are supporting a proposal to expand Yosemite National Park by 1,600 acres, restoring land stripped of its protection by Congress in 1906. The state Senate approved a resolution this week that asks the federal government to approve the expansion. “This is a great day for Yosemite,” said Nathan Weaver, a spokesman for Environment California, which supported the resolution. “We applaud work by California's leaders to preserve and strengthen Yosemite, one of the world's most beautiful” parks.

California national parks, monuments and sites A list, from Alcatraz Island to Yosemite National Park, with programs, fees and directions. Find out about historic and scenic sites as well as programs, fees and directions to California's national parks, monuments and recreation areas: Alcatraz Island, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Fort Mason, B201, San Francisco; (415) 561-4900 or (415) 981-7625 (tickets), http://www.nps.gov/alca or http://www.alcatrazcruises.com.

National parks and monuments, national forests and other wild places will waive admission fees Saturday in honor of National Public Lands Day. The idea is to encourage people to get out and see these natural places and maybe even work to help preserve them. The deal: Not all parks and forests charge fees for admission, but those that do will be free. For example, Death Valley National Park usually charges $20 per car or $10 for those entering on foot or bicycle. Same price for Sequoia & Kings Canyon and Yosemite national parks.

There's a terrible irony lurking in the recent news of the hantavirus outbreak at Yosemite National Park, which has killed three visitors and sickened half a dozen more since mid-June. Part of the backdrop of the 1864 act that established Yosemite as essentially the nation's first national park (that language would not be used until 1872 in the founding of Yellowstone National Park) had everything to do with health and healing in the latter years of the Civil War. We'd do well to note that from today's vantage of being in the middle of the sesquicentennial years of the war. You might not connect Yosemite to the Civil War. But Frederick Law Olmsted, co-creator of Central Park, certainly did. Eyewitness to the horrific destruction wrought by the war when he served as general secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission, a Red Cross-like operation for the North, Olmsted despaired as the nation became, in his memorable phrasing, a "republic of suffering.

Everyone loves to watch black bears at Yosemite National Park and elsewhere in the Sierra Nevada, just not at close range. That's why the park sponsors an apple-picking day each year to remove tempting fruit from populated areas of the park so bears and humans don't collide. Yosemite has two historic apple orchards inside the park, one at Curry Village and one near the horse stables. The idea is to remove the non-native food source in hopes of keeping the bears wild and away from the popular tourist stops.

Here's a traffic alert for California's Yosemite National Park : A section of a major route there will be shut down for more than a month to repair damage caused by a Jan. 22 rockslide. Starting at 8 a.m. Feb. 29, California Highway 120, also known as Big Oak Flat Road, will be closed to traffic between the Foresta Road junction and El Portal Road (California Highway 140) junction. The closure is expected to last until early April, officials said in a news release . Yosemite Valley, the park's most visited area, will remain accessible by other routes.

A list, from Alcatraz Island to Yosemite National Park, with programs, fees and directions. Find out about historic and scenic sites as well as programs, fees and directions to California's national parks, monuments and recreation areas: Alcatraz Island, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Fort Mason, B201, San Francisco; (415) 561-4900 or (415) 981-7625 (tickets), http://www.nps.gov/alca or http://www.alcatrazcruises.com. Cabrillo National Monument, 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, San Diego; (619)

This was an unlucky year to get lucky in the lottery for Yosemite High Sierra Camps reservations. The five seasonal camps , assembled each year at high elevations in the park's spectacular back country, were supposed to open as early as this month, but they have been delayed by this year's mighty Sierra snowpack . "We've pushed the dates back four times, starting about a month ago," said Lisa Cesaro, spokeswoman for DNC Parks...

For many, the allure of Yosemite National Park isn't just its jaw-dropping vistas but the exhilaration of edging right up to a rushing river, cascading waterfall or towering granite face. Here in the glacier-carved Yosemite Valley, the most striking beauty is often found on the most dangerous precipices, and not everyone heeds the park's safety warnings. Hikers take unusual risks to get that perfect snapshot and families swim in pools that swirl just above raging falls. Invariably, some get hurt, go missing or die. Photos: Vernal Fall at Yosemite National Park This summer, the number of deaths at the park had jumped to 14 by the end of July, twice the average at that point in the year, sparking a debate about what can be done to improve safety.

If you want to cover a lot of spectacular high-country terrain at California's Yosemite National Park without lugging a heavy pack, try letting a mule do the hard part. The park's stables at Tuolumne Meadows have added a custom overnight mule trip to the area's scenic Water Wheel Falls. The trips will begin after the stables open for the season, which is typically around the same time as the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge opens. That date depends on conditions; it is tentatively set for July 8 . Water Wheel Falls is a backpacker destination that is made easily accessible by riding the mules.