Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Tioga Pass closing tonight according to NPS website

This post was written by Carolyn Weddle, 2012 Project Specialist.

After several weeks of unseasonably dry weather here in the Mono Basin, the weather forecast shows a change coming at the end of this week. High chances of snow and rain are predicted starting Wednesday night through the weekend. What does this mean for road conditions? As of today at 5:00pm the Yosemite National Park website says that Tioga Pass (Highway 120) through the park will be closing tonight at 7:00pm. It is unclear how long the road will be closed  if it closes tonight; it is usually weather-dependent.

If you are planning to visit the area always make sure to check the road and weather conditions before you leave as these can change frequently. You can call Yosemite National Park  at (209) 372-0200 or the California Department of Transportion at 1-800-427-7623 for current road conditions. Safe travels everyone!

2 Comments

  1. Is Hy 120, east of Tioga Pass, plowed at all during the winter road closure? If yes, how far? If yes, is it accessible by the public?

    Thank you,
    Richard

  2. Hi Richard,

    Right now Highway 120 is closed by a gate just three miles west of Highway 395, so the public cannot get very far up Highway 120. Sometimes that gate is open and people can drive right up to the entrance to Yosemite (13 miles west of Highway 395) before coming to a closed gate, but that is rare, and usually only happens when the entire road is about to open in the spring/summer.

    Elin