Tioga Pass Will Be Closed This Memorial Day Weekend
Yosemite, CA – Yosemite National Park reports Highway 120 Tioga Pass will not be open for the Memorial Day weekend, noting that the cooler temperatures are impacting cleanup efforts.
Park Road officials update snow removal efforts and roadway conditions along the highway. They advise, “Road crews have fully plowed through the Olmsted Point avalanche zone, which remains an active avalanche zone. Employees have been up to Tuolumne Meadows to begin assessments, repairs, and setup. Culvert clearing, hazard tree mitigation, sign repair, snow clearing of side roads and campgrounds, and other tasks related to opening continue.”
Repairs from the extensive damage from the winter of 2022–2023 also continue. Crews are working on culvert clearing, hazard tree mitigation, sign repair, snow clearing of side roads and campgrounds, de-winterization of employee housing and visitor use facilities, and other tasks related to opening. The utility systems are being impacted by continuing cold temperatures at higher elevations. Some problem areas include the sewage disposal ponds at Tuolumne Meadows covered in ice, some vault toilets covered by snow, and frozen material in some vaults.
“In order to protect public health and natural and cultural resources, sanitation must be in place before Tioga Road can open to visitor use,” shared park road officials.
There is no estimated opening date for the roadway, which also remains closed to cycling. The targeted date to open the pass is Memorial Day weekend, but last year it opened on July 22. In the two previous years, they met that goal. In 2010 and 2020, the pass did not open until July 1st and June 15th, respectively.
Of note, Glacier Point Road opened to traffic on Tuesday, May 14th. Highway 108 Sonora Pass and Highway 4 Ebbetts Pass, maintained by Caltrans, opened earlier this month, as reported here.
