YOSEMITE – A portion of the Tioga Road, from Crane Flat to White Wolf, will be temporarily closed to all vehicular traffic beginning Wednesday, Aug. 28, at noon. The closure is necessary for firefighters to perform fire suppression activities along the road.
This portion of the road is anticipated to be closed at least through Labor Day Weekend. The park will issue an update as conditions allow for the reopening of the road.
“The work that will be performed over the next few days is instrumental in suppressing the Rim Fire within Yosemite,” stated park Superintendent Don Neubacher. “The safety of the firefighters working along the road is our paramount concern.”
Tamarack Flat and Yosemite Creek Campgrounds, both located along the Tioga Road within the closure, will remain closed during the fire suppression efforts, along with White Wolf Campground and White Wolf Lodge.
The Tioga Road will remain open east of White Wolf to the Tioga Pass Entrance. The Porcupine Flat Campground, the Tuolumne Meadows Campground, and all visitor services within Tuolumne Meadows will remain open.
Highway 41, from the southern portion of the park, and Highway 140, from the western portion of the park, will remain open. Both of these roads provide access to Yosemite Valley.
A fund to help the park restore trails, facilities, and wildlife habitat has been established by the Yosemite Conservancy. People wishing to contribute to the fund can donate online at www.yosemiteconservancy.org/fire. People can also donate via mail by sending donations to Yosemite Conservancy, 101 Montgomery, Suite 1700, San Francisco, CA 95104.
For up-to-date Yosemite information regarding the Rim Fire, please visit the park’s website at: http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/rimfire.htm. You can check out the webcams to see current conditions. The photo to the right is a screen shot of the Half Dome web cam at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
Most of Yosemite National Park is not affected by the fire and is relatively smoke-free. The northern part of the park, including some areas along the Tioga Road, has some smoke. Conditions may change if winds shift. However:
- The Big Oak Flat Road (the continuation of Highway 120 inside Yosemite) and Highway 120 west of Yosemite are closed between J132 near Buck Meadows (outside the park) to Crane Flat (inside the park). Beginning at noon on Wednesday, August 28, the only access to Yosemite Valley is via Highway 140 from Merced or Highway 41 from Fresno.
- Beginning at noon on Wednesday, August 28, the Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the park) is closed from Crane Flat to Yosemite Creek. The only access to the Tuolumne Meadows area is via Highway 120 from near Lee Vining.
- Hetch Hetchy Road and Evergreen Road are closed.
- White Wolf is closed, including the lodge, campground, road, and trails originating from White Wolf.
- Crane Flat, Hodgdon Meadow, Tamarack Flat, Yosemite Creek, and White Wolf Campgrounds and Hetch Hetchy Backpackers’ Campground are closed.
- Merced and Tuolumne Groves of Giant Sequoias are closed so firefighters can work on preventive fire suppression efforts. The groves are not currently in imminent danger.
- Wilderness trail closures: The area west of the May Lake Road and May Lake Trail continuing to the junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at Glen Aulin and then north along the PCT to Bond Pass is closed. The park’s boundary serves as the closure’s northern and western edge extending south to the junction of the Big Oak Flat Road and Tioga Road at Crane Flat. The closure’s boundary continues east from Crane Flat paralleling the Tioga Road a half mile to its south to the Tamarack Flat Campground Road. The closure follows the Tamarack Flat Campground Road to the campground then continues on the Tamarack Creek trail then east along the North Rim trail to the Yosemite Creek Trail north to the Tioga Road. The closure then follows the Tioga Road east to the May Lake Road. The trails serving as the eastern and southern boundary of the closed area remain open. May Lake High Sierra Camp, Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, and Porcupine Flat Campground are open.
