Visitors spend the day in Yosemite Valley ahead of partial closure

MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- As the biggest snowpack on record starts to melt, officials are closing parts of Yosemite National Park ahead of the threat of flooding.

Visiting Yosemite Valley while the waters are high and waterfalls are gushing, can be an incredible experience.

However, starting Friday, parts of the Yosemite Valley will be closed due to the threat of flooding.

Leidy Palacio and her family are visiting from Massachusetts.

They planned to head to Kings Canyon but quickly changed their plans to squeeze in a visit to Yosemite before the closure.

"We love to explore and adventure out so we are very lucky and fortunate to be here for today and tomorrow to actually explore a little bit of this majestic place," said Palacio.

The Merced River, which runs through the middle of the park, is expected to rise above 10 feet, triggering the closure.

At the Yosemite Visitors Center in Oakhurst, they're answering many questions about the park and directing people to the parts of the park that are open.

Visitor Assistant Phyllis Emery said, "The Mariposa Grove and the Giant Sequoia trees is open, it's a hiking situation right now because the shuttles are not running, but it's a four-mile hike to the grove and it's absolutely beautiful."

Other open portions of the park include the western Yosemite Valley, Wawona, the Crane Flat area, and Hetch Hetchy.

Outside the park, visitors can ride the Sugar Pine Railroad, check out the Bass Lake Fishing Derby this weekend, or visit boutique wineries like Yosemite Wine Tails.

Colette Goga is the owner of Yosemite Wine Tails in Oakhurst. She said despite the closure, there will be an uptick in business for some.

"We are talking five to seven business days here - one weekend. And yes, it matters, every dollar matters, I'm not going to be dismissive about that, but there's any opportunity to recover that lost revenue," said Goga.

While hotels have seen some cancellations, Yosemite Visitors Bureau CEO, Rhonda Salisbury, said she hopes the community will bounce back after this week.

"Our local mom-and-pop businesses have suffered a lot through all of this, and we just see this sunshine coming out all excited again, and then darn it, now there's too much water, but you know, we are resilient, the communities are very resilient," Salisbury said.

The closure could be extended beyond May 3rd depending on the severity of the floods.

The video featured in the above player is from a previous story and will be updated.