Bay Area hiking parks closed just because it is hot

[Creeping Incrementalism]

A number of parks in the Bay Area with good hiking trails are closing his weekend because of supposed fire risk, when there aren't even any weather red flag warnings. (And even if there were, that is still a lame reason to shut down hiking areas.)

Is anyone also highly irritated by that?

I get the feeling the government officials who run those places look for any excuse to either keep out all visitors so they aren't bothered by having to deal with people, or else just to "do something." Shutting down parks was unheard of when I was a kid and up until maybe 10 years ago. A miniscule chance of something bad happening is not an excuse to shut down the public land outdoors.

Specific for the East Bay Regional Park District (but some other districts are doing the same):

The district said it made the decision after fire officials warned of a high fire risk. Weather officials have not issued any watches or warnings related to fire-friendly conditions

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/09...wn-some-areas/

It seems these "fire officials" have no standards, they just make them up. I have a strong feeling that if these parks got their budget cut by whatever percentage of the days they shut down per year -- so if they shut down for 5 days, they lose 5/365 or 1.3% of their budget, suddenly the parks would hardly ever shut down anymore.

I can't help but wonder if the wimpy, generally afraid-of-the-slightest-risk attitude of people in the Bay Area and California makes this happen so often. Is Nevada like this?

I suppose for now all I can do is complain on CalGuns, and write a letter to the local park districts doing this.

[M76]

nanny state keeping you safe from yourself

[waawaaweenie]

because even they know all these fires are started by environmental nuts.

[TrailerparkTrash]

A number of parks in the Bay Area with good hiking trails are closing his weekend because of supposed fire risk, when there aren't even any weather red flag warnings. (And even if there were, that is still a lame reason to shut down hiking areas.)

Is anyone also highly irritated by that?

It’s the same reason I get furious with our public National Forest [mis]managers for closing access to our public land even during the cold months and without a good reason.

The Cleveland NF down here in Orange County is a prime example of that.

[flyinbronco]

Just more proof that it's really government land not public land.

[DesertDave100]

Is Nevada like this?

Not so much. Today it's 100 and windy as hell and the park behind my house is still hosting the disk golf tournament.

We did have some stupidity during Covid, with State Parks closed for a few months, then with only half the camping spots open. Yet not nearly as frustrating as what the Feds did with Yosemite, for example.

[freonr22]

Is it possible, the volume of visitors is low? Idk

[cz74]

Last year there was a jerk trail runner got himself killed in 108 degree heat in Pleasanton Ridge Park.

[Jeepergeo]

The folks in the Bay Area need to be taken care of by the nannies they have voted into office. The situation should be no surprise.

Votes have consequences.

[Creeping Incrementalism]

Not so much. Today it's 100 and windy as hell and the park behind my house is still hosting the disk golf tournament.

We did have some stupidity during Covid, with State Parks closed for a few months, then with only half the camping spots open. Yet not nearly as frustrating as what the Feds did with Yosemite, for example.

Nevada... sounds not as bad, but still not encouraging. I've been mulling over escape plans from California for years and for me personally, it sounds like full-time RV'ing is the best option. No place is safe!

What irks me about the Bay Area right now, is it wasn't that long ago that closing parks just because it was hot was unthinkable. I remember going hiking all the time on days it hit 100+! Even as recently as 2017 in early September, it was supposed to get up to 115 in Walnut Creek, and I went hiking (but it only got up to the 105-110 range), yet they didn't close the parks. There was even a fire circa 2009 and they didn't close the park for that... I remember the next day the CalFire guys were walking around putting out hot spots, and they castigating me for being out hiking even if they admitted the park was technically open.

I talked to someone today who went hiking in an open space park that was technically closed today. The ranger was driving around in his truck but not writing any tickets or even saying anything, happily. So it seems not every place is really enforcing it. Of course this park has no single paid entrance gate -- there are many trailheads at the edge of many streets -- so it is impossible to truly shut down.

[Foothills]

Several local-government owned hiking areas, such as Claremont Loop and Etiwanda Falls were closed to hiking. I guess they want people to stay home in the A/C.

Little did they know that a different government agency was telling people to shut off their A/C.

[Big Chudungus]

9/11 was a coup and ended the Constitution.

They closed the bathrooms on BART but janitors got paid and fares stayed same or went up.