[VIDEO] Sonora Pass/SR 108 in California is Open for the Summer On Thursday, May 16, Mono County officials announced that Sonora Pass in California is open for the summer. District 9 and 10 crews made great progress clearing Sonora Pass this season, having spent a total of five weeks clearing State Route 108 of snow, and exceeding the goal of opening for Memorial Day. Last year, the mountain pass opened on [โฆ] SnowBrains | May 17, 2024 0 Comments
State Snow Maintenance Crews Begin Clearing Tioga Pass, CA Caltrans maintenance crews have been busy clearing Tioga Pass in California since April 15. Caltrans shared a video showing the progress along Highway 120 W on Instagram and Twitter (X). The video shared by Caltrans District 9 shows its maintenance crews utilizing a grader and a bulldozer to push the snow into manageable piles for the blower to remove it [โฆ] Industry News SnowBrains | April 17, 2024 0 Comments
8,736โฒ Ebbetts Pass, CA, Temporarily Closed Due to Winter Storm Caltrans District 10 announced yesterday that 8,736โฒ SR4 Ebbetts Pass is temporarily closed due to incoming winter weather. The highway, home to lots of world-class backcountry skiing, does not currently have an estimated time of reopening. โCaltrans has temporarily closed State Route 4 from Lake Alpine to the Route 89 junction (Ebbetts Pass) due to an incoming storm. There is [โฆ] Industry News SnowBrains | October 26, 2023 0 Comments
[UPDATE] 9,943โฒ Tioga Pass, CA, Now Open From East to Yosemite Entrance | Latest Opening in Over a Century On Thursday, July 13th, Caltrans District 9 opened State Route 120 Tioga Pass for the summer. The road was opened between Lee Vining and the eastern entrance to Yosemite Park at the passโs summit, offering access to campgrounds, trails, and backcountry skiing. However, the park entrance remains closed at this time, and vehicles will not be able to drive into [โฆ] Industry News SnowBrains | July 17, 2023 0 Comments
Caltrans Updates 9,943โฒ Tioga Pass Plowing Progress | No Estimated Opening Date, Latest Opening Since 1938 Caltrans recently gave updates on clearing 9,943โฒ Tioga Pass in California and is still unable to estimate an opening date. The opening of the popular route through Yosemite National Parkโs high country has been delayed due to historic snowfall during the winter. โOne lane is plowed the length of Tioga Road to Tioga Pass. Crews continue to clear snow from the [โฆ] SnowBrains | July 11, 2023 0 Comments
Caltrans to Escort Travelers on US HWY 395 Between Lee Vining and State Route 167 Beginning Today Finally, weeks after closing, the road between Mammoth and Tahoe, better known as the Ice Cream Highway, will open to vehicles today. Albeit with some restrictionsโฆ ATTN DRIVERS: Caltrans will escort travelers on U.S. Highway 395 between the town of Lee Vining and the junction with State Route 167 beginning today, Friday, March 24th, 2023. No additional escorts will be offered [โฆ] SnowBrains | March 24, 2023 0 Comments
Caltrans Opens Gate on Tioga Pass Near Lee Vining, CA | Motorists Can Now Travel Up To Yosemite Eastern Entrance Caltrans on Friday, April 29th, opened its gate on State Route 120 W near Lee Vining. Motorists can now travel up to the eastern entrance of Yosemite National Park, CA. Related: Caltrans Update Says They Hope to Open Tioga Pass, CA, for Memorial Day Weekend The park entrance is still closed at this time and drivers will not be able [โฆ] SnowBrains | May 2, 2022 0 Comments
[PHOTOS] Another Huge Boulder Falls on HWY-50 Below Echo Summit, CA Another large boulder fell off of Echo Summit Wednesday morning and crashed down onto the Highway 50 mountain pass in El Dorado County, blocking traffic in both directions, the California Highway Patrol reported. The six-foot-high boulder fell off the summit shortly after 8 am, the CHP South Lake Tahoe Area Office said on Twitter. Caltrans made quick work getting the [โฆ] SnowBrains | March 18, 2022 0 Comments
UPDATE May 6, 2021 : SR-108/Sonora Pass Will Open at Noon Today UPDATE May 6, 2021 Caltrans District 10 announced this morning that SR-108/Sonora Pass will OPEN today, May 6th, at noon. Last year Sonora Pass opened on May 15, 2020. Caltrans District 10 manages three trans-Sierra passes in the central Sierra that are closed during winter and generally open in spring: Ebbetts Pass/SR-4 in Alpine County, Sonora Pass/SR-108 (Tuolumne County), and [โฆ] Mike Bartholow | May 6, 2021 6 Comments
Blizzard Warning for Central Sierra, CA through Jan 29th The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, California has issued a Blizzard Warning for the Central Sierra from Tuesday afternoon, January 26 through Friday morning January 29, 2021. In an email message to NWS weather spotters, Meteorologist Eric Kuth stated that โa powerful and cold winter storm is expected to impact the area Tuesday afternoon through Fridayโ and that โwe [โฆ] Weather Mike Bartholow | January 26, 2021 2 Comments
Yosemite National Park, CA Providing Limited Access to SR-120/Tioga Road | No Parking, Visitor Services or Overnight Camping Yosemite National Park has announced there will be limited access to State Route 120/Tioga Road for visitors interested in crossing the Sierra. Tioga Road will be open to all vehicles, including bicycles, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am and from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. No parking will be allowed on Tioga Road and day use recreation is not permitted. [โฆ] SnowBrains | June 20, 2019 0 Comments
VIDEO: Cool Drone Footage of Crews Clearing Tioga Pass (SR-120), CA Check out this cool video of Caltrans District 9 removing snow and debris from SR 120 West (Tioga Pass) in April 2019. Seasonal clearing of mountain roadway passes is underway in Caltrans District 9. This video of State Route 120 west of Lee Vining commonly known as Tioga Pass shows how this yearโs deep, icy snow is a difficult task [โฆ] SnowBrains | April 26, 2019 0 Comments
Caltrans Close a Number of Roads as Firefighters Battle Wildfires WILDFIRE AND ROAD CLOSURE UPDATE: THE MORNING OF AUGUST 9, 2018 Good morning to all. Here is a list of wildfire-related road closures and the latest information we have on said wildfires. โ State Route 41 (SR-41) is open up to the Yosemite National Park entrance. The closure of SR-41/Wawona Road within Yosemite is due to the #FergusonFire. U.S. Forest [โฆ] Fire Firebrains | August 10, 2018 0 Comments
Tioga Pass, CA is not Currently a Through-Road Over the Sierra Due to Closures Caused by Wildfire Mono County Tourism is reporting that you cannot currently use Tioga Road (Hwy 120) as a thru-road to get over the Sierra. Hwy 108 (Sonora Pass) and Hwy 89 (Monitor Pass) are alternative options and both are currently open. All entrances and roads into Yosemite are closed except Tioga Pass and Tioga Road Tioga Road (120 EAST) to Crane Flat, including [โฆ] Fire SnowBrains | August 3, 2018 0 Comments
Caltrans Announces Sonora, Ebbetts, and Tioga Passes are now OPEN for the Summer The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) removed the winter snow, cleared the debris, made necessary repairs and then opened Sonora Pass at 2:00 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2018, and Ebbetts Pass at noon on Friday the fourth. Caltrans manages three trans-Sierra passes in the Central Sierra that are closed during winter and generally open in spring: Ebbetts Pass in [โฆ] Steven Agar | May 7, 2018 0 Comments
CalTrans Plans to Have ALL Sierra Nevada, CA Mountain Passes Open by May 25th! CalTrans Press Release: Caltrans Crews Reach Pacific Crest Trail On Ebbetts Pass/SR-4 Check out the wall of snow that our crews are battling through on their way to the summit of Ebbetts Pass during the annual clearing of the Sierra Passes to get the routes open for the summer season. Caltrans Woodfords Area Lead Worker James Adams sent us the [โฆ] Weather SnowBrains | April 27, 2018 0 Comments
IMAGES: Caltrans Working Hard to Clear 9,624-Foot Sonora Pass Ready to Open for Memorial Day Caltrans reported on Monday 23rd April that by around noon the snow removal crew working on Highway 108 had cleared it to the Kennedy Meadows closure gate and swung open the Eagle Meadows gate. Officials say it appears that the 9,624-foot Sonora Pass summit will likely be ready to open by the traditional target date of Memorial Day Weekend, just [โฆ] SnowBrains | April 25, 2018 0 Comments
Caltrans Begin Work to Clear Sierra Passes for Memorial Day | Photos Show Progress Made on 8,050-Feet Ebbetts Pass Camp Connell Area Maintenance Supervisor Mike Johnson made his way up Ebbetts Pass (SR-4) today and sent back some photos of his Caltrans crew working their way to the east end of Mosquito Lake at the Pacific Grade Summit. Mike reports that the snow is usually deepest at the old corrals at Sandy Meadows and that they didnโt expect to [โฆ] Steven Agar | April 25, 2018 0 Comments
Opening Updates: Tioga Pass, Sonora Pass, Ebbetts Pass, CA | June 9th, 2017 California holds some of the best spring backcountry skiing and riding in North America and that terrain can be made very accessible via our high mountain passes (10,000โฒ passes) being open and clear of snow. Clearing that snow this record winter is no easy task. Each of these passes listed below say over 200% of average snowfall this winter. 9,943โฒ Tioga [โฆ] Industry News SnowBrains | June 9, 2017 1 Comment
CalTrans: Mountain Highway Pass Updates for Tioga Pass, Sonora Pass, Monitor Pass, moreโฆ Caltrans District 9 Seasonal Pass Status by Caltrans District 9 Bishop โ The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 9 has begun working on clearing snow, removing rocks, and repairing roads to its eight mountain passes. As work progresses, pedestrians, bicyclists, skiers, etc. are advised to stay out of these areas. Safety is our number one priority, for the public [โฆ] Industry News SnowBrains | April 21, 2017 0 Comments