Just as the spring tourist season is getting started, a major rockslide has closed one of the primary routes into Yosemite National Park.
The slide came crashing down across both lanes of Highway 140, a scenic winding route along the Merced River between the town of Mariposa and Yosemite’s Arch Rock entrance.
“The boulders that fell there are the size of small cars,” said Caltrans spokesman Brian Hooker. “It’s certainly impassable. It’s a few hundred feet long.”
At first, it appeared the slide, which occurred Monday night at about 10 p.m. following several days of heavy rain and snow, might be cleared in a few days. But Tuesday, Caltrans officials said they saw more movement in the unstable area where boulders and rocks had fallen onto the roadway.
Now, “a long-term closure” is place “with no current estimated time of re-opening,” the agency says. It has closed about two miles of Highway 140 in both directions between Yosemite Cedar Lodge and Briceburg, 10 miles west of El Portal.
On Thursday, Caltrans geologists investigated the area and flew drones to take 3-D images of the cliffs.
“There are a couple areas they want to take a closer look at before we allow the contractor in there to remove the debris,” Hooker said.
That leaves Bay Area residents with one main route into the park — Highway 120 through Groveland. A longer way from the south is also possible, on Highway 41 through Oakhurst.
Hooker said Caltrans is trying to assess how many tons of rocks are lying on the road, and how badly damaged the road might be.
“There’s no estimated time for reopening,” he said. “You will not be getting to Yosemite on Highway 140 this weekend. That’s for sure.”
The rockslide is the latest challenge the iconic park. Last year, in an effort to reduce traffic on busy summer days, park officials required visitors to obtain a day reservation for their vehicles to enter Yosemite.
But after President Trump took office on Jan. 20, the new administration has not said whether or not reservations will be required, leading to a torrent of calls to local hotels from confused tourists from around the United States and other countries in recent weeks, asking whether they’ll be able to get in.
Trump officials also instituted a hiring freeze on government workers, delaying national parks like Yosemite from hiring seasonal employees who staff campgrounds and perform other key services in the summer. As a result, Yosemite hasn’t fully opened summer reservations for all of its campgrounds yet. And as part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cuts, 10 Yosemite employees were fired.
Local business leaders say they hope the slide will be cleared soon.
“I’m not an expert,” said Jonathan Farrington, executive director of the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau. “But based on our experience, we’re probably looking at a 10-to-14 day period. Maybe less. But safety is number 1. The crews who have to remove the debris are waiting to make sure the area above is stable before they remove it.”
Highway 140 is one of the most colorful highways in California.
In the first few decades after President Abraham Lincoln set aside Yosemite Valley for preservation in 1864, visitors who wanted to see the park’s waterfalls, granite cliffs and other breathtaking wonders took treacherous two-day horse wagon rides, then trips in early automobiles, across steep, unpaved mountain grades on the Big Oak Flat and Wawona roads. The routes were impassable in snow.
Then in 1907, the journey became much more comfortable. The Yosemite Valley Railroad opened. Investors built tracks along the Merced River, across the river from where Highway 140 is today. Visitors could enjoy a three-and-a-half-hour journey by rail up the Merced River Canyon from Merced to El Portal, just outside what is now Yosemite’s Arch Rock Entrance.
Everything changed in 1926, when Highway 140 was built along the other side of the Merced River. The road, nicknamed “The All Weather Highway,” allowed motorists to easily drive to Yosemite at all times of the year.
The railroad’s passenger revenue fell 38% the following year. And although it still had some high times — President Franklin Roosevelt rode it to the park in 1938 — it failed to make up for the losses and by 1945 closed.
The tracks were sold for scrap. The dusty railroad bed can still be seen by motorists driving along Highway 140 today.
Other slides have come off the steep cliffs. In 2006, more than 300,000 tons of rocks slid off Ferguson Ridge, closing Highway 140 for years. Caltrans built a temporary bridge and detour across the river. The agency has removed the enormous pile of rocks, and plans to build a rock shed — basically covering the road with a strong roof — for 675 feet starting later this year.
Visitors should check Caltrans site before heading to the park: Quickmap.dot.ca.gov
“Please be patient while we are getting the work done,” Hooker said. “Safety is our priority.”
