For years, Firefall at Yosemite has been one of the must-sees for nature lovers. It happens every February when the setting sun lines up perfectly to hit Horsetail Fall and make the water bright orange. As it falls, it looks like a flame made of liquid. The sight lasts about five to 15 minutes a day between February 10 and February 26.
After the pandemic, when stay-at-home orders kept most people inside, Americans fell back in love with our national parks. Since 2022, Yosemite required a reservation to attend the location during these dates to stop pandemonium. They wanted people to be safe, not feel crowded and not damage the park. This year, no reservation is required.
"The removal of the reservation requirement to witness the Yosemite Firefall opens the opportunity for more travelers to see the phenomenon during the brief window of Feb. 10 -26," Yosemite National Park officials said.
But this change comes at a time of upheaval at the parks. There has been a 25 percent cut in permanent staff. The cuts include the rangers who have boots on the ground to ensure people don’t get lost or endanger themselves, animals or the land.
Some visitors rejoiced as rangers failed to attend the gates and collect entry fees. However, litter has started to pile up along trails. Even more worrying, people are flying illegal drones over protected areas and cliff diving.
“Visitors were far less supervised than they normally were, which had led to the wrong kind of wildness,” said a news article covering the problem. Managing the national parks has always been a balancing act, making sure the public could enjoy the parks while also preserving the land. Now it seems to be at a tipping point.
In January 2025, many drones stopped having geofencing that physically stopped them from flying in forbidden places. Some people breaking that rule may not realize they are committing a violation. However, people littering and cliff diving should have enough common sense to know that what they are doing is against the rules!
Firefall feels like it will be the ultimate test of how we’re doing. It’s wonderful that more people will be able to see it in person, enjoying the sight, making memories of the event with friends and family. But, with so few rangers in attendance, it will also show how people conduct themselves in massive groups and if a small staff can take care of the land.
It’s always essential, when on public land, to keep an expression in mind: “Don’t ruin it for the rest of us.” Not only do you want your day and the days of the people around you to be pleasant, but it’s also important to treat an area nicely so that others can enjoy it in the future. When people behave dangerously, it can result in more restrictions in the future. And, it makes it easy to paint everyone in attendance with the same brush and say, “The crowd behaved appallingly.”
A drone website, talking about the illegal drone flights, said something that applies to all park goers, “Drones do not belong in national parks. The pilots who respect that boundary are protecting the rest of us from the backlash that comes when footage surfaces of someone buzzing Half Dome.” When someone breaks the rules, it can make everyone associated with them look bad. So, as you head out to Yosemite and other national parks, brush up on the rules and etiquette so that you can be a steward of the land without a park ranger telling you to do your part.
