![]() When open, Tioga Pass provides an entry point into Yosemite National Park from the eastern side of the Sierra, giving hikers the chance to make their way to Tuolumne Meadows where packages and some resupply items can be found. While visitors to Yosemite will have fresh access to Glacier Point Road, nearby Tioga Pass remains closed due to high snow levels, which creates a lengthy resupply for Pacific Crest Trail hikers. The park service prohibited vehicular, bicycle, and foot traffic during the closure while crews worked to repair some of the road’s curves, repave the Glacier Point parking area and build the McGurk Meadow Trailhead to enhance visitor safety. Originally closed to support rehabilitation and an improvement project, the road is a popular destination due to the access that it provides to the Bridalveil Creek Campground, Glacier Point, and a number of additional trailheads. The road will fully reopen on July 15 at 6 am, but park officials warn visitors to plan for 30-minute delays on weekdays. The road will be open the following weekend at the same time. Starting Independence Day weekend, visitors will be able to access Glacier Point Road from 6 am to 10 pm, from July 1 to 4. Yosemite is reopening Glacier Point Road on July 1 to visitors after a year-long closure-but another, key road will remain closed months more than a month longer than usual, forcing thru-hikers to tote heavy loads of food. If driving it east to west, morning is best.Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! If driving Tioga Road west to east, I would recommend driving it in the afternoon so the sun is behind you and the direct sun doesn't interfere with your driving or enjoyment of the scenery. This may make it difficult to make reservations for lodging, but many places have cancellation policies as little as 48 hours in advance of arrival, so check the policies of the places you intend to stay at.Įven if Tioga Road is open on the dates of your travel, most or all of the services along the road will have already closed for the year, so you may be pretty much "on your own" when driving that road. Then use the first if it is open when you are actually there, but if it is closed use your alternate route. I wouldn't bother with getting tire chains for driving Tioga road, because if there is snow that would make chains necessary, the road would be closed anyway.Īs always when considering a drive on Tioga Road during periods when its availability is uncertain, the best strategy is to have 2 routes planned: one for if it is open and another one for if it is closed. So it is best to be prepared for any conditions. However, weather is always unpredictable, especially in the mountains. ![]() On average, you are likely to find sunny skies and excellent driving conditions in October. Also at the high elevations sunlight is intense, so if you are hiking in that area on a sunny day, use sunscreen even in October. And Tioga Pass itself is at an elevation of almost 10,000 feet above sea level. could get down to 35 F by 3 a.m., if it is a high elevation. Dry air cools quickly, so a place that was 75 F at 3 p.m. October is usually a warm, dry, sunny month in California, with clear crisp dry sunny warm days, and cool nights - cold in fact at high elevations. The odds are that the road will still be open on your days of travel. The road closed on October 17, 2004, due to a very early (and unexpected) winter-type storm that stranded some hikers. It hasn't closed that early since 1947! But with global climate change producing unpredictable weather, anything could happen. With your travel dates of October 12, 13 and 14, the odds are in favor for Tioga Road to be open for you. If you consider the last decade only, the average closing date has been November 11th. But that average has been getting later and later, I assume due to global climate change. ![]() ![]() The average closing date since 1933 is November 1. Since 1933, the earliest Tioga Road closed for the winter was September 4, and the latest January 1. ![]()
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