Section of Highway 140 Closed Near Yosemite National Park

June 12, 2006

Section of Highway 140 Closed Near Yosemite National Park
June 12, 2006 – A rock and soil slide has closed a 600-foot section of Highway 140 eight miles west of El Portal. Group tours to Yosemite National Park must use alternative routes for at least the next six months. Officials from the National Park Service and its concessionaire, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc., state that Yosemite is open for business as usual and is easily reached by automobile via two commonly used state highways.

Both Highway 120 from the northeast through Groveland and Highway 41 from the south through Oakhurst remain open for visitation into Yosemite with no restrictions. Visitors can still take Highway 140 to Mariposa and from there go south on historic Highway 49 to connect to Highway 41 through the town of Oakhurst and into the southern entrance of the Park.

The only section of Highway 140 that is currently closed to all traffic is the small section covered by the rockslide, which is located 20 miles east of Mariposa and 8 miles west of El Portal. It is open from Merced at Highway 99 through and beyond the town of Mariposa, with continuing routes out of Mariposa into Yosemite via Highway 49 southeast to Highway 41 north, and via Highway 49 north to J20 northeast to Highway 120 east. Highway 140 is also open from Yosemite Valley west downstream into the Merced River canyon through and beyond the town of El Portal.