Google Doodle Celebrates Yosemite: National Park’s Birthday Observed During Government Shutdown Closure

Yosemite National Park turned 123-years-old today, a fact recognized by today’s Google Doodle, despite the park being closed due to the government shutdown.

Google’s homepage currently pays homage to Yosemite, featuring images of the national park's patches overlapping one another behind the Google logo. The Google logo itself has been altered to resemble a patch as well, with the second “O” replaced by the iconic Half Dome granite dome rock formation in Yosemite. The lower part of the central patch features a mountain-scape with a bear and evergreen trees in the foreground.

When the Google Doodle is clicked on, websites associated with Yosemite show up in the Google results – including the official website for Yosemite National Park. However, due to the shutdown, the webpage – like the park – isn’t operating because the government shutdown has forced all national parks to close for the indeterminate future.

Yosemite is typically open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The national park covers an impressive 747,000 acres of Eastern California, and is known for its waterfalls, granite cliffs and sequoia forests. As just one of 401 parks run by the U.S. National Park Service, Yosemite boasts an average of 3.5 million visitors per year.

Google had designed the Yosemite-dedicated Doodle well before the shutdown seemed imminent.

– Chelsea Regan

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