Caltrans road crews have been working diligently to open the mountain passes and great progress has been made. All these passes offer world-class spring skiing & riding this time of year.
Snowplows have reached the eastern gate of Yosemite National Park on State Route 120 W, but before they can reopen the highway, crews have to remove rocks that fell onto the road, repair pavement, and guardrail damage caused by those rocks, and repair rock berms. Basically, a lot of rock stuff has to be handled before the highway can safely reopen. Last year Tioga Road opened on May 27th. The earliest it has opened in the last 10 years was May 2nd, 2014.
Tioga Road closes due to snow usually from sometime in November through late May or early June. The road closure extends from the Tuolumne Grove, just east of Crane Flat, to Tioga Pass Entrance Station. (Highway 120, the continuation of the Tioga Road outside the park, is often closed in winter from Tioga Pass to five miles west of Lee Vining.)
When the road is closed, it is not possible to drive to Tuolumne Meadows or enter Yosemite National Park from the east. All other park entrances, including those along Highway 120 from the west, Hetch Hetchy, Highway 140, and Highway 41, remain open all year.
State Route 4/Ebbetts Pass opened from the west end of Lake Alpine to the east end of Lake Alpine at noon on Thursday 7th April.
Route 108/Sonora Pass opened from the Sno-Park to Eagle Meadows at 3:00 pm Thursday. Maintenance crews from Sonora Junction are making good progress clearing snow from the Mono County side of State Route 108/Sonora Pass. There is still more snow to remove and repairs to make before the highway can safely reopen.
Route 89/Monitor Pass is open.
