Google Celebrates Yosemite Even Though It's Closed as Part of Government Shutdown

Oct. 1, 2013 — -- Today Yosemite National Park turns 123, but don't think about celebrating the park that spans three California counties by visiting. Because of the federal government shutdown, all U.S. national parks, monuments and zoos are closed today.

But that doesn't deter Google, which is still honoring the park with a homepage doodle today. Visit google.com and you'll see a few Yosemite National Park patches scattered in place of the usual Google logo. Click on the image, and Google will search for "Yosemite National Park." You might get a link to this article or a link to the official Yosemite website, but following that link would be like showing up at the park today.

"Because of the federal government shutdown, all national parks are closed and National Park Service webpages are not operating," the site reads as it redirects users to www.doi.gov.

While the shutdown makes getting official information about Yosemite difficult, please but don't give up. You can visit the National Geographic's page or the Yosemite Park tourism page and find much of what you need to know about the 747,956 acres of national park. You can also search for the park on Google Maps, and take a few virtual tours.

It might not be as good as standing under the Giant Sequoias, but the last thing we'd want is for Congress' inability to pass a new budget to stand in in the way of your finding out more about the national treasure that is almost the size of Rhode Island.