Natural History Wanderings

Each spring, crews work to clear 45.5 miles of road between Crane Flat and the entrance station at Tioga Pass. As of Saturday, May 13, plows have cleared the first 11 miles of road, cutting a deep corridor through the snow.

Progress is nearing White Wolf, where the rooftops of bathrooms and other structures are just starting to emerge. As the crew works their way up the road, climbing to over 9,000 feet in elevation, conditions continue to grow more challenging. They will face many more miles of road buried beneath at least ten feet of snow, much of it heavily compacted, and they will have to carefully navigate several hazardous avalanche zones. Plowing seven days a week, the road crew is working as quickly as they can to clear Tioga Road, though the safety of the team remains the highest priority.

There is not yet an estimated opening date for Tioga Road. Snowpack was measured on April 1 as 240% of average, the highest ever recorded for this area. In previous years with very heavy snowpack, Tioga Road did not re-open until late June or early July. Much of Yosemite’s Wilderness will likely be covered in snow well into summer.

For past and future updates on plowing operations, visit: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tioga.htm