Spring equinox & Yosemite plans
The spring equinox hits March 20 — nearly equal day/night and the signal for longer hikes and later sunsets, plus it coincides with Nowruz outdoor traditions for millions. Yosemite is gearing up for a busy spring: the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad reopens March 28, and park managers expect higher 2026 attendance after dropping the reservation system (park saw ~4.2M visitors in 2025). (forbes.com) (freep.com) (abc30.com) (activenorcal.com)
The March equinox arrives at 14:46 UTC, which translates to 10:46 a.m. EDT, 9:46 a.m. CDT, 8:46 a.m. MDT and 7:46 a.m. PDT. (forbes.com ) Skywatchers can spot a thin crescent moon close to Venus just after sunset on the equinox evening, visible low in the west-southwest. (forbes.com ) Nowruz is listed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (inscribed 2009, extended 2016) as a shared springtime tradition across multiple countries. (unesco.org ) The United Nations General Assembly officially proclaimed March 21 as International Nowruz Day in a 2010 resolution and the UN documents estimate the festival is observed by about 300 million people worldwide. (un.org ) The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad is restarting seasonal service this month with narrated steam excursions through roughly four miles of the Sierra National Forest and an on-site depot about 10 minutes from Yosemite’s southern gateway on Highway 41. (abc30.com ) (ymsprr.com ) Yosemite National Park’s official announcement says the park will not use a season‑wide timed vehicle reservation system in 2026 after analyzing 2025 traffic and parking patterns, and that managers will rely on targeted tools such as real‑time traffic monitoring and active parking management instead. (nps.gov ) Conservation groups including the National Parks Conservation Association urged caution over ending the reservation requirement, and park records show search‑and‑rescue incidents rose to at least 235 in 2025, a figure officials cite when planning staffing and operational responses. (npca.org ) (activenorcal.com )
