Yosemite sets Tioga Road reopening date. Those driving through park need reservation
Yosemite lovers got some good news this week: The popular national park will reopen Thursday, and Tioga Road will reopen Monday, June 15.
But accessing Yosemite National Park’s only road over the Sierra Nevada will be more difficult this year.
New day-use reservations, which are now required to visit Yosemite (except for those with overnight reservations in the park) will also be required for those just driving through Yosemite to the Eastern Sierra, park officials said Monday. That’s different from what officials shared last month in a proposed reopening plan.
Yosemite will initially reopen with about half the number of daily visitors – approximately 1,700 day use visitors and another 1,900 overnight vehicle spots.
Day-use reservations will open 7 a.m. Tuesday on recreation.gov.
“Tioga Road, which connects with Highway 120 at the park boundaries near Big Oak Flat and Tioga Pass, is not and has never been a state highway,” park officials said. “Originally a private mining road, private citizens purchased the road and donated it to the National Park Service, which has improved and maintained the road ever since.”
Services in the Tuolumne Meadows area will be closed, including its store, grill, campgrounds, lodges, shuttle and High Sierra camps.
Gas will still be available at Crane Flat – 24/7 at the pump – but the Crane Flat Store will be closed.
Tioga Road reopening dates have varied over the years, depending the amount of High Sierra winter snow and time needed for snowplows to clear the road.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that some additional services, including hotels and campgrounds, could reopen as soon as Friday if their county is approved to do so. Kevin Cann, chairman of the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors and a member of Yosemite Gateway Area Coordination Team, said Sierra communities surrounding Yosemite plan to do so.
