Restrictions on outdoor activity were loosened in Bay Area health orders announced on April 29. In San Francisco, for example, its fine under the latest orders, which take effect May 4, to take transit to go to a park, where the city previously asked people to limit recreation to places they could walk or bike to. But its still confusing to know where you can go outside and what you can do there.
The Bay Area has more than 20 agencies and districts that manage more than 150 recreation destinations. Each works with its own county health department to set guidelines independently of other counties, park districts and watersheds. That leads to a patchwork of rules that differ everywhere you go. Heres what you need to know about getting outdoors in Northern California.
Q: Where are the rules the most open?
A: Irrespective of the governors desires, Modoc County, in the remote northeast section of California, relaxed its stay-at-home orders. Modoc has no positive tests for coronavirus in a population of about 9,000 people that spans 4,200 square miles. The only thing not open in Modoc are Forest Service campgrounds, likely to open in mid-May.
Q: Where are the rules the tightest?
A: Yosemite National Park and many other national parks remain shut down to all visitor access because of the potential of clustering and violating the 6-foot rule for social distancing. In recent years with good-weather springs, such as this year, visitor numbers can top 5 million; in Yosemite Valley on any summer day, 20,000 people can crowd in five square miles.
Q: When will campgrounds open?
A: 1,500 campgrounds on 100 Forest Service districts at lakes, streams and trailheads in California, Oregon and Washington will start opening in mid-May through June, based on the county and location. Now is the time to dream and plan. At state and national parks, and other sites where where people may cluster, the dates will likely be delayed until June, or when county health departments clear the activity by site. Size of groups will likely be restricted per site.
Q: As parks open, will there be special rules?
A: Parks will likely phase in openings with special rules that will include restrictions on group size, parking and requirements to carry masks or other face coverings. Sonoma County parks opened in late April, for instance, with rules where visitors are required to walk or bike to parks, and when on trails or fishing from shore (at Spring Lake) are required to carry masks and put them on when encountering others.
Q: When on the trail, what do you do when you come across others?
A: Hike only with people you live with. All trail users should carry a face covering. Put it on when encountering others. When you meet others, mountain bikers give way to horses and hikers, and hikers give way to horses. The one exception is on a hill, where a hiker sailing downhill should always give way to a mountain biker going uphill, grinding it out at 2 mph.
Q: Why are some boat ramps open and others closed?
An earlier version of this article did not specify when the latest health orders become effective. The Bay Area orders take effect May 4.
A: With different agencies and different rules, its been a piecemeal approach where the left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing. Boat ramps are open at marinas in Berkeley and Richmond. Yet other harbor districts shut down their boat ramps, including Oyster Point in South San Francisco, Coyote Point in San Mateo, Loch Lomond in San Rafael, and Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay. On the Petaluma River, the ramp in Petaluma is open, yet the ramp just downstream at Black Point is closed. The result: same river, different counties and different results.
In the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, public boat ramps are closed and private boat ramps are open. It is likely boat ramp openings will be phased in through mid-June.
Q: What major recreation lakes have the least restrictions?
A: At giant Shasta Lake north of Redding, virtually everything is open that is, other than Forest Service campgrounds, which likely will open after May 15. Sugarloaf Resort, for instance, sold out its cabin rentals in late April. The water temperature is 64 degrees, still cold for water sports, but will likely enter the low 70s by Memorial Day weekend. Others that are open are Lake Amador near Ione, Bullards Bar near Camptonville, Trinity north of Weaverville and Almanor at Chester. Others are likely to reopen soon.
Q: What destinations have the least restrictions?
A: State Wildlife Areas provide access to large areas where you can break free for fitness and nature, and stay safe. The best for this include Grizzly Island Wildlife Area near Suisun City, with a driving tour on a levee road that provides access to trailheads, and the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area with best access by kayak to a matrix of rivers and sloughs at high tides.
Q: Why do I have to stay home in San Mateo when my brother in Walnut Creek says he can go anywhere he wants?
A: In San Mateo County, trails reopened in 13 of 23 parks, but access is restricted to within 10 miles of a persons residence, regardless of whether you live in the county. The countys health department set these rules after rangers observed severe clustering (before the parks were shut down). In the East Bay, guidelines are set by East Bay Parks in concert with the health officers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties; closures have been ordered for parts of 25 of 73 East Bay parks.
Q: What major recreation lakes have the most restrictions?
A: Lake Tahoe, Clear, Berryessa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Don Pedro, New Melones, Folsom, Collins and Jenkinson are closed. Each is managed by a different agency. As a result, each will open according to its own unique set of parameters, in conjunction with the respective health officer for that county. Most are expected to open by Memorial Day weekend or shortly after.
Q: When will I be able to hike and camp in wilderness?
A: The U.S. Forest Service and national parks are not issuing wilderness permits at this time. That will likely change in early June, as trailheads open up, snow melts off and trails clear in the most remote high country wilderness areas, and county health officers give the all-clear. At high-density areas, including Yosemite, Whitney, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, and Desolation at Tahoe, where trailhead quotas are established and where there is a higher chance of clustering, there is no projection when trailheads might open and permits will be issued or honored this summer.
Q: Where is the most remote wilderness with the least chance of seeing others on the trail, even if you write about it?
A: The South Warner Wilderness in eastern Modoc County.
Q: Is RV camping considered safe?
A: Most county health officers are considering it safe to camp in self-contained RVs, trailers, fifth wheels and cab-over campers, where you can park, eat and sleep without breaking the 6-foot bubble with other campers. Some RV parks in the rural north state started opening on May 1. A good summer appears ahead. The one area to stay clear of is Highway 1, where parks and camps get packed, and closures could linger well into summer until county health officials give sites the thumbs up.
Q: When will party boats start fishing trips again?
A: The consensus for fishing operations based out of San Francisco Bay is that trips for salmon, striped bass, halibut or rockfish will start roughly when restaurants start reopening. A group of anglers at the back of a party boat is similar to a group of people in a restaurant.
Q: Can I go surfing at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz?
A: The temporary order that banned out-of-town visitors to Santa Cruz has been partially lifted. Beaches are again open, including at the famous break at Steamer, but only for surfing and similar activities. The county has closed all of its beaches from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in an effort to keep crowds from gathering on the sand and violating social distancing rules. Surfers, swimmer and other people engaged in water activities are allowed to cross the sand to the water but nobody is allowed to loiter or linger. Sitting and sunbathing arent allowed. See http://www.cityofsantacruz.com for more information.
Q: How will officials keep all the city people away from the coast?
A: A lack of recreation outlets at inland parks in the Bay Area on good weather weekends has caused many from cities to drive over to the coast and clog Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, Stinson Beach and Point Reyes Station. Parking and vehicle access is banned at all state beaches, county beaches and at Point Reyes National Seashore. That squeezes visitors into small coastal towns. The best projection is that parking and access to beaches will be phased in over a series of stages, similar to how San Diego County opened its beaches.
Q: When will Bay Area lakes reopen?
A: Water districts, working with county health officers, closed San Pablo, Los Vaqueros, Del Valle, Lafayette and Loch Lomond reservoirs, among others, to all access. These closures came at the height of the spring fishing season, when anglers might cluster on shore. No reopening dates have been set. They may occur after water temperatures warm, trout stocks are done for the year and visitor use is projected to be light.
Q: When will the Eastern Sierra open to fishing?
A: The trout season was postponed in Inyo, Mono and Alpine counties, and parts of Sierra County, through May 31. It will likely be reopened after Memorial Day weekend, when the chance for large crowds and clustering is lessened.
Q: Will state parks be the last to reopen?
A: Yes, along with national parks where visitor use is high and groups tend to cluster. State parks report directly to the governor, who has kept tight wraps on access: All roads, parking, camping and picnic sites are closed at all 280 state parks and beaches. At the 50 state parks in the greater Bay Area, Bean Hollow, Butano, Portola Redwoods and San Gregorio State Beach in San Mateo County, and Castle Rock, Big Basin Redwoods and Santa Cruz Mission in Santa Cruz County are closed 100 percent.
Q: In rural areas, how do people react to out-of-towners?
A: It doesnt matter where you are from. Act like an idiot, you get treated like one. Keep a face mask handy, wear it when you leave your car and keep your distance, just like you would do no matter when you live. Rural people loathe fast city drivers lost in their self-absorbed bubbles.
Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @StienstraTom.
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