Trashed And Crowded, Visitors Asked To Stay Away From Popular Spots Like Yankee Jims
YANKEE JIMS (CBS13) - An already popular spot for visitors, Yankee Jims is getting bombarded during the pandemic.
"I rarely, if ever, come out here. I just wanted to get somewhere where I didn't think a lot of people knew about," said visitor Will Haynes.
Yankee Jims has enough room for 12 parking spaces but was filled with approximately 300 vehicles last week. This prompted a closure of the area this weekend.
It appears great minds do think alike, but the influx of visitors prompted the Placer County Sheriff's Office to post a message on social media pleading for visitors to stay away. They're not the only ones.
Neighboring Nevada County is seeing similar overwhelming crowds. It's a concern for an area that's managed to stay off the state's COVID-19 watchlist.
"We do still have an increase in the number of cases and of course that makes some of our residents very anxious. And you put that on top of that we just don't know where people are coming from," said Anna Klovstad, Truckee vice mayor.
Klovstad says while this is the busiest time of year for Truckee, they're seeing even more visitors than usual and it's difficult to ask visitors to stay away.
"Absolutely, as a leader in a community that is dependent on tourism, but at the same time it does not prohibit us from getting the message out there that if you're going to come here, please be respectful of our community," said Klovstad.
It's a double-edged sword for a region that usually lures visitors this time of year but is now forced to keep them away.
"They probably don't need to close areas if people were safe about it, keep six feet apart, wearing a mask and stuff like that," Haynes said.
It's not just because of the pandemic. Officials say with the added crowds they're also seeing a lot more trash. Just over the last few weeks, divers bagged 3,000 pounds of trash from Donner Lake in Truckee.