Scenic but broken drives
Storm damage closes Yosemite roads and California’s Highway 1 in the Big Sur area.
Yosemite and Big Sur, among California’s leading tourist attractions, have suffered storm damage that will affect accessibility.
California Route 41 just south of Yosemite National Park is closed temporarily, forcing northbound park visitors to detour through Mariposa and El Portal.
That detour, which could remain in place through Friday, takes drivers up State Route 49 from Oakhurst to Mariposa, then into Yosemite Valley by way of El Portal on State Route 140, adding 22 miles of mountain roads to the journey.
Because storm damage has also temporarily closed Big Oak Flat Road (State Route 120) and Tioga Road is closed for the season, State Route 140 from Mariposa is the only way into the valley, the park’s website said.
The Caltrans closure of State Route 41 (also known as Wawona Road) is at Summerdale Campground, 0.8 mile south of the Yosemite National Park entrance. The closure is expected to continue through 11:59 p.m. Friday, the Caltrans advisory said.
Yosemite Valley lodgings and other businesses are operating according to their usual seasonal schedules, representatives of park concessionaire Aramark said.
Travelers can check road conditions with Caltrans or the National Park Service.
California’s coastal Highway 1 remains temporarily closed in several places between Ragged Point and Carmel.
One trouble spot may keep the highway shut in both directions for months.
Heavy rains caused the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge in Big Sur to crack and start sinking into the shifting mountainside. Caltrans closed the bridge to vehicles and pedes-
trians on Feb. 15 and has said it’s beyond repair.
Replacing the bridge may take as long as a year, which means travelers must choose which part of Highway 1 they want to visit.
Rock and mud slides also have shut traffic in both directions south of the town of Gorda, at the Ragged Point Inn and on a stretch of the road between Salmon and Mud creeks.
A little farther north, debris buried a lane of traffic and closed an eight-mile section of road near Lucia.
“This is so difficult because it is one of the world’s most iconic roadways, and now it’s bifurcated,” said Rob O’Keefe, chief marketing officer at Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
About 120 students and staff members at the Esalen Institute were evacuated from the 27-acre spiritual retreat because they were cut off.
The institute has canceled classes through March 19.
The posh Post Ranch Inn, a few miles south of the bridge closure, is closed until April, partly to accommodate emergency service providers.
Depending on what happens with Highway 1, the inn may bring guests to its hillside location by helicopter from Monterey.
Once the immediate danger has passed and many of the slides are shored up, Highway 1 fans will be able to drive north from Los Angeles as far as the bridge closure.
There are no roads through the steep Santa Lucia Mountains to circumvent the closure.
To connect with the other half of the route, you must leave the coast and drive inland. You can take Highway 101 north, cut over to Monterey and head south on Highway 1.
Before you visit the area, check out Caltrans’ map of road closures at quickmap.dot.ca.gov and contact the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau at www.seemonterey.com.