Yosemite National Park will reopen Saturday with ‘minimal’ access

Yosemite National Park will reopen Saturday with “minimal public access” after being closed for nearly a month due to severe winter storms that brought record amounts of snow, caused multiple rock slides and damaged many park roads and facilities.

The only access to Yosemite Valley will be via Highway 140 and El Portal Road, with a short detour in El Portal. Visitation will also be limited to daylight hours, between sunrise and sunset, with “very limited services available,” the National Park Service stated.

“While several miles of paved pedestrian paths in Yosemite Valley are plowed, all hiking trails are covered in snow,” the park service warned. “Wear waterproof boots and traction devices as even plowed paths can be icy. Hiking on snow-covered trails is not recommended.”

Big Oak Flat Road, a continuation of Highway 120, and Wawona Road, a continuation of Highway 41, will both remain closed, the park service stated.

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir will also reopen from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Visitors will only be able to access the area via Highway 120 and Evergreen Road, the park service stated.

All other areas and roads within the park will remain closed due to 22 rockslides, debris flows and other slope failures along park roads that have been documented since the series of storms started Feb. 21, though the park service stated much of that has been mitigated.

“Other services and areas of the park will reopen as park recovery efforts such as these continue,” the park service stated.

The park has been closed since

Feb. 25. In that time, Yosemite Valley has received 21 inches of rain and Tuolumne Meadows has received more than 15 feet of snow, the park service said.

Though winter weather is predicted to return next week, the park service stated that Yosemite Valley will be open 24 hours a day starting Monday — conditions permitting. There will be limited overnight lodging, as campgrounds are still buried in snow and will not open immediately.

“Visitors should be prepared for the possibility of road closures and tire chain requirements,” the park service stated.

Call (209) 372-0200, then hit 1 twice to check road conditions.