Re: Tioga Road to open

Tioga Road (continuation of Highway 120 through the park) will open to vehicles on Saturday, July 22, at 8 am. While vault and portable toilets will be available, there will be no water, no store/food service, and no fuel. Be sure to bring all the food/water you need.

The Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center will be open (8 am to 5 pm) and a general information desk near the visitor center will be open from 9 am to 5 pm.

Tioga Road has some damage, so watch for one-lane sections, with delays up to 15 minutes just east of Olmsted Point.

There is no estimate when Tamarack Flat or Porcupine Flat Campgrounds will open. Other campgrounds on Tioga Road will not open this year.

It's still snowy up there! Meadows and some trails are flooded. Snow is persisting in some shady areas as low as 8,000 feet, with extensive, deep snow coverage by 9,000 feet. Stay on trails to protect growing plants and plan for wet feet.

Did they have gasoline in TM on a normal year? I don't remember seeing it for awhile, perhaps they're reiterating so people don't forget? Not looking good for the other campsites not mentioned in this post. The pass looks clear, but someone posted a picture of saddleback lake the other day, so much snow.

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eLeMeNOhPee
Did they have gasoline in TM on a normal year?

Not lately, they removed the gas station.

Is this the latest opening ever?

according to san jose mercury news: previous record july 8, 1933.. it became public and part of the park in 1915, when Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, bought it for $15,000 with his own money and donations from the Sierra Club and the Modesto Chamber of Commerce. He sold it to Congress that year for $10, hoping to bring more tourists into the park.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2023 01:31PM by mkbgdns.

Actually this KQED article cites one slightly later opening: July 19 in 1917 (the NPS Plan Your Visit table only goes back to 1980). In 1917, the road was still little more than an old dirt mining road...the current alignment wasn't completed until the early 1960's (I forget the exact year off the top of my head).

So, regardless of whether you consider when the Park acquired the road, when the road was paved or any other factor, this will be the latest the road has ever opened (and, apparently, it's not really fully opened since it's only one lane in the damaged section near Olmstead Point).