Mountains of snow, storm damage close California parks

LOS ANGELES — After the recent winter storms dumped up to 15 feet of snow on some areas of Yosemite National Park, the park has been closed with no estimated time of reopening.

“Park crews are working to restore critical services so visitors can safely return,” Yosemite park officials wrote on the website.

Across California, other parks have shuttered to give crews time to dig out the roads and repair damage from the storms.

Here’s the most recent status on how California state and national parks are faring after the storms:

• State Calaveras Park: Big Due Trees to snowfall, the park is closed through at least Sunday, March 5. The campgrounds are closed indefinitely, as is the Walter Smith Memorial Parkway.

• Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area: The park is fully closed indefinitely due to storm damage. Motomart is open for repairs.

• Redwood National and State Parks: There were closures throughout the Northern California park “due to multiple storms causing downed trees and power outages,” according to the website.

• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks:

Almost all park roads were closed as of Friday morning while crews continued repairs. Kings Canyon Visitor Center in Grant Grove Village and Azalea Campground were also closed.

• Mojave National

Preserve: All preserve roads have been closed since Wednesday until further notice, according to its website. Travelers were warned not to drive into the area or go around barricades. Mojave Road across Soda Lake was also closed because of wet and muddy conditions.

• Death Valley National

Park: Many roads, including North Highway and Beatty Cut-Off, were closed Friday because of damage from the storms or icy conditions.

As of Thursday afternoon, 14 California state parks were fully closed and 34 were partially closed. For a full list, visit www.parks.ca.gov /?page_id=30009.

The San Bernardino National Forest was also closed beginning Friday through March 16 because of storm damage to infrastructure in the forest and around the mountain communities, according to a news release.

“Due to limited access and deteriorating conditions, it will be several weeks before the Forest is fully operational,” said Forest Supervisor Danielle Harrison in the release. “With communities dealing with lack of power and lack of resources, visiting these mountain communities puts additional pressure on already scarce resources.”

Forest officials advised drivers against traveling to the communities but said if they must, they should be prepared with self-sustaining resources in case they get stuck.

News-Sentinel staff writer K. Cathey contributed to this report.