Yosemite sees about 3.5 million visitors a year, which translates to millions of tourism dollars to Tuolumne and Mariposa counties.
In 2013, a government shutdown lasted 16 days and all national parks closed completely, resulting in an estimated $500 million loss in tourist dollars.
Between 2018 and 2019, another shutdown lasted 35 days but Yosemite stayed open with .
Rush Creek Lodge sits on the doorstep of Yosemite in Groveland with almost 150 rooms and is a popular wedding venue. But the summer started rough with the entrance at Big Oak Flat closed until mid-June .
Valla Crumbly with the lodge said she鈥檚 listing alternatives for visitors who are calling.
鈥淭here are a lot of things to do around here that aren鈥檛 in the park such as Hetch Hetchy, Carlon Falls, Rainbow Pools,鈥� Crumbly said. 鈥淲hat we did last time is provide a list of things people can do outside the gate.鈥�
and the certainly hurt Yosemite tourism, but this year optimism is up, according to Jacob Hawley with the Mariposa Visitors Center.
鈥淲e are just coming back and we finally had a good season and definitely not looking forward to a government shutdown. We need the business because we already started off with a good amount of business this year and we want to end strong as well.鈥�
So far, the National Park Service has been tight-lipped about what actions it will take in the event of a shutdown. Government funding is set to expire Oct. 1 if Congress is not able to pass a funding plan that the president signs into law.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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