Nature is at a premium as favorite outdoor recreation areas like Knights Ferry close
Getting outside and exercising is not only allowed under the state and county’s stay-at-home order, it is encouraged by mental health professionals. But the options for doing that while abiding by social-distancing guidelines are dwindling as the last of the area’s most popular places for recreation close down.
New Melones in both Tuolumne and Calaveras counties closed all of its campgrounds, day-use areas, boat launches and even hiking trails on Saturday.
Don Pedro Reservoir and Yosemite National Park closed March 20.
And on March 26, the Knights Ferry Recreation area and other Stanislaus River Parks closed for day use, along with the Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s other nine lakes and parks up and down the Sierra.
“We had to send home nonessential personnel so there weren’t enough people on hand to respond to an emergency,” said Army Corps spokesman Luke Burns. “We also don’t have the personnel to enforce a six-foot gap between users.”
He said those essential personnel are ensuring the safety and security of Army Corps assets, like with the operation and maintenance of dams.
Burns has heard a lot from the public over the past few weeks and said the biggest complaint is the closure of boat ramps at the Army Corps lakes. “I understand their point. There’s no better place to socially isolate than on their boat with their own family. But realistically, our inability to respond to an emergency if anything went wrong out there wasn’t worth it,” he said.
The Corps of Engineers started by closing its visitor centers and ranger stations on March 18, then did a systematic closure of its campgrounds, canceling all reservations scheduled for after March 20 and allowing anyone who made them before that to stay for a maximum of 14 days.
With its iconic covered bridge, Knights Ferry is one of the Corps’ most popular recreation areas. In March 2019, parking lot fees were collected for 27,316 vehicles.
The novel coronavirus already was slowing traffic at the park before it closed completely. Burns said 7,287 paid to use the parking lot from March 1-20.
But on Saturday, people were still coming. Vehicles pulled up to entrances blocked by metal gates fastened with messages regarding COVID-19. Some people turned around, but others parked on the side of the road and walked in, stepping over low fences or ducking under caution tape that surrounds the park.
A few families with children took pictures by the old buildings, walked around the visitors center and along trails.
Oakdale resident Deiondre Thompson, 17, said he went to Knights Ferry on Wednesday when the weather was warmer and there were even more people on the wrong side of the caution tape.
He and his friends parked at the turnaround at the end of Covered Bridge Road, where they were approached by a park official. She told them the park was closed and they couldn’t leave their vehicle there, but allowed them to take a few pictures before they left. Thompson said during the 15 minutes he was there, he estimates there were about 30 other people.
He said the park official talked to a few of them but eventually went inside the visitor center.
“Yes, members of the public are ignoring the posted notices on closed gates and are parking in no-parking areas,” Burns said.
He said rangers can write citations for violating the closure policy and law enforcement can ticket and arrest trespassers, but enforcement as of Saturday has mostly been focused on ticketing people illegally parked outside the recreation area.
Burns said he understands people’s frustration. “I am a huge outdoor person,” he said.
But he has temporarily given up all his favorite hiking trails near his El Dorado County home and is sticking to walks around his neighborhood.
“Just understanding what we are doing at our parks, I am trying not to go anywhere and do the best I can to abide by the state and the CDCs guidelines,” he said.
This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 2:06 PM.
