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Motels, restaurants and merchants outside of Yosemite National Park rode a profitable wave of tourism last year as people swarmed to see the biggest waterfalls in years.
Yet the visitor total for California's premier outdoor attraction showed only a ripple of improvement. The 3.38 million total was up a few thousand from the previous year's dismal 15-year low.
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Even more mysterious was that Yosemite's total for the usually busy month of August fell short of a half-million visitors for the first time since 1990.
"Maybe gasoline prices had something to do with it," says park spokesman Scott Gediman. "We're not sure why August was so far down."
Gas prices hit all-time record levels twice in Fresno in August, nearing $3 per gallon.
August wasn't the only attendance curiosity, though. In June, the gate counter at Tioga Pass stopped working. Officials substituted a three-year average of June visitors at Tioga.
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Visitors from Nashville, Tenn., enjoy Upper Yosemite Fall from Swinging Bridge in Yosemite Valley on Thursday. Businesses outside Yosemite benefited from more visitors in 2005. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee
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That might be why June, the most spectacular month for waterfalls, had fewer visitors in 2005 than in the previous year.
But it doesn't explain the rest of the year — a year that most surrounding communities and businesses will not soon forget.
"I had the most incredible year I've ever had," says Peggy Mosley, owner of the Groveland Hotel in Tuolumne County. "Our whole corridor had a phenomenal year. We can't whine about this one."
The story was much the same in Oakhurst, where the bed tax income jumped 10% last year, according to Dan Carter, executive director of the city's visitors bureau.
"You have to wonder what's going on with the counters at Yosemite," he says. "Why aren't we seeing bigger numbers?"
Could it be the way the tourists are counted?
Vehicles roll over mechanical entrance counters. The totals are transmitted directly to the National Park Service office in Denver, where the counts are kept for parks all over the country.
If a counter is broken at one of the entrance stations, Yosemite officials might not know for several days until Denver notifies them. Averages are used in place of the counts whenever a counter is broken.
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First-time Yosemite visitors take a photograph Thursday as they drive past Bridalveil Fall. The waterfall season yielded some of the biggest waterfalls in years, and businesses reported strong growth. The park's visitor total of 3.38 million was up a few thousand from the previous year. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee
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Officials assume 2.8 people for each car. Buses are distinguished by weight at the counter. The drivers turn in an exact count of passengers at the entrance station.
"It is not entirely scientific," says Gediman, "and we're not saying it is. We've never said it was an exact number."
Officials used the same counting method in 1996 when the park attracted a record 4.19 million people. Yosemite's tourist slump started the following year after a massive flood closed the park for several weeks.
The public relations headache cascaded because people were afraid to visit. The entrance fee also jumped from $5 to $20 in 1997. The visitor total tumbled by almost 400,000 that year.
There was a huge snowfall in 1998, providing a big waterfall season. But the weather and memories of the flood continued to keep people away until July. Visitation fell again that year.
By the time three Yosemite-related killings made international headlines in 1999, the downturn was undeniable. The terrorist attack in New York two years later further chilled tourism and the numbers tumbled further.
There are more subtle factors in the decline, some park observers say. Many believe there are people who simply cannot afford the entrance fee or a motel.
Campers have been affected, says Brian Ouzounian, a Santa Monica resident and member of the Yosemite Valley Campers Coalition. They lost campsites when the park service decided to eliminate some campgrounds near the Merced River after the 1997 flood.
Park service officials say they are protecting campers and the natural areas around the river. Campers feel cheated, Ouzounian says.
"This relates directly to the lower visitor totals," he says. "If I can't camp, then I've got to go somewhere else."
At the end of 2004, Yosemite visits had fallen about 20% from the 1996 record year.
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The awe of nature and water is both Yosemite's curse and its allure. A massive flood in 1997 closed the park for several weeks and made visitor levels plunge. In 2005, increased water flows helped create waterfalls that drew tourists from all over. A sign along the Merced River marks the high level of the 1997 floods. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee |
But hope arrived in early 2005 as a steady stream of Pacific storms pounded the Sierra, leaving billions of gallons of water frozen in the snowpack. It looked like a prescription for a tourist revival with booming waterfalls in spring.
The rain and snow continued through May, keeping some people away. Visitor totals slumped lower than the previous year.
Still, the waterfalls brought a lot of people to the area in June and July, say business owners outside of Yosemite.
And a long, dry autumn kept Tioga Road free of snow and open in the high country through Thanksgiving. Park visits increased every month from September through December.
Max Stauffer, owner of the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad near Fish Camp, says he doesn't understand why the park's numbers aren't higher. His business was up 5%.
"Everything went very well," he says. "Now we're looking at this year. You hold your breath and hope nothing weird happens in the park so business keeps going well."
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