California forest and park roads, campsites shut by wildfires: Where to find updates

Wildfires, which have been destroying and threatening homes in the Los Angeles area, are burning in forests and parks in various regions of  California. Among the parks battling blazes is Yosemite National Park,  which has closed at least two campgrounds and a section of Big Oak Flat Road and planned to restrict access starting today to Tioga Road.

Here are some sources for updates on fires that affect public lands:

>The Incident Information System, or InciWeb, which combines data from various public agencies, posts news, maps and a list of active fires in the state. Besides an overview, it provides links to affected sites, with more details. (You may find the website slow to load, possibly because of high traffic.)

>The websites of individual forests and parks provide news on road closures, air quality and other issues that affect visitors. Among the forests being impacted by fires are Angeles National Forest and San Bernardino National Forest. For national parks, go the main website’s “Find a Park” page to link to the one you want to know about.

>The social networking site Twitter  is worth checking. The plus: It’s up to the minute. The minus: Nearly anyone can tweet on it, so you’ll find unproven rumors mixed in with good information.  Yosemite National Park uses Twitter, @YosemiteNPS,  to post updates and answer questions about fire conditions.

>The Los Angeles Times offers fire maps and updates, along with Twitter feeds, @latimesfires, with a focus on Southern California. The Outposts blog, in particular, has been tracking the Yosemite situation.

—Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

Plume rises from Big Meadow Fire in Yosemite National Park on Thursday.  Credit: National Park Service

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 31, 2009 at 7:56 am by Jane Engle and is filed under Business Travel, California, Eco-Travel, Islands & Beaches, Lake Tahoe & Eastern Sierra, Los Angeles, National Parks, News, Tips & Advice, Northern California, Outdoors & Adventure, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.