Large parts of Yosemite National Park are slated to close, starting Friday, April 28, as the park braces for “increasing” risk for flooding.
Warmer weather has begun to melt the park’s record-setting snowpack, measured at more than 240% of average, brought on by this year’s unusually wet weather. The majority of Yosemite Valley will close at 10 p.m. Friday until May 3, or potentially longer, the National Park Service announced.
Closures like this happen when the Merced River at Pohono Bridge is expected to rise above 10 feet, making the valley unsafe for visitors as roads begin to flood.
The closure will start at the El Capitan Crossover, where the road meets the Merced River, the park service said in a tweet. All areas east of this point will be closed to visitors, including pedestrians. The western portion of Yosemite Valley will remain open, along with the Wawona, Hetch Hetchy and Crane Flat areas. Mariposa Grove will be open via hike only.
Yosemite is no stranger to major flooding — the largest flood in the park’s recorded history took place in 1997 after a Pineapple Express storm system came through and melted the snowpack on mountainsides throughout the park. The valley was submerged in 16 feet of water, and the park’s infrastructure sustained millions of dollars in damages that took nearly two decades to repair.
Anyone with camping or lodging reservations during the upcoming park closure will be reimbursed, officials said. Hikers on the John Muir Trail, which also overlaps with the Pacific Crest Trail, can keep going if they start from Happy Isles before the closure, the National Park Service said in a tweet.
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April 26, 2023 at 04:46AM
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Parts of Yosemite National Park to close because of flood risk - SFGATE
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