Merced Grove Trail Safety Closure starting August 22nd

The Merced Grove Trail from Big Oak Flat to the grove will be closed starting August 22nd. The closure is anticipated to last up to three weeks. This temporary closure is needed to safely remove hazardous fuels surrounding the giant sequoias. High severity fires fueled by hazardous fuels have killed nearly 20% of all giant sequoias in the past two years in the southern part of the range. This is the first step towards implementing an interagency prescribed fire that will provide protection of the giant sequoias from high severity fire and promote sequoia seedling germination This project is part of a larger project to remove hazardous fuels from around giant sequoias and communities.

Hi eeek, I'll be in the park next month and was thinking about hiking the stretch of the Old Coulterville Rd between Big Meadow and the Merced Grove. I'm confused by the "...from Big Oak Flat" bit in your message...did you mean "...from the Big Oak Flat Road" (i.e., 120). I know you can follow the line of the Old Coulterville Rd quite a ways west from the Grove (technically you can take it all the way to Coulterville although it becomes a modern paved road somewhere around Bower Cave) but I'm not aware of any trail between the Grove and the town of Big Oak Flat (which would be a pretty long trail!). Can you please clarify?

I'm pretty sure it's about highway 120.

Yeah, pretty much what I figured...that's really the only way I can think of that it makes sense!