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Travel Forum / Destinations / USA and Canada / June 2006Yosemite - with 140 closed both ways, Merced?
Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. What is the best way to get to/from the Valley and Merced? Thanks. >Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. What is the best way to >get to/from the Valley and Merced? Well, as I'm sure you can tell by maps, you only have two other choices: 120 and 41. The most direct route would be 140 east to Mariposa, then take 4 north to 120 or (shorter) south to 41. I haven't been on those stretches of 49 for a long time so will leave it to others to tell you whether they're as windy as I recall. (And with some heart-stopping, edge-of-the-cliff sections, too.) Otherwise, you'd have to take 99 up to 120 or down to 41. Or take some of the back roads through the eastern San Joaquin Valley and the foothills to 120 or 41. They're pretty, but not fast. Patty Thanks. Sound like you are saying 49 south from Mariposa is best. I see a "Chowcilla Mountain Rd" that cuts from 49 to Wanona Rd. Any experience with Chowcilla Mountain Rd. I'll likely be in a rental mini-van. Nice performance vehicle for curvy, cliff-hugging, windy roads, eh? ;-) >>Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. What is the best way >>to [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Patty >Thanks. Sound like you are saying 49 south from Mariposa is best. Certainly the most direct. And thanks for understanding that I meant "49" when I typed "4". ;-) (Although the later references to 49 may have helped. Hwy 4 is way north of where you want to be!) Whether it's the best depends on how you define "best." It's your most direct option, but as I mentioned, parts of 49 are very winding (better word that "windy" that I used before; I'm talking about curves, not moving air). > I'll likely be in a rental mini-van. Nice >performance vehicle for curvy, cliff-hugging, windy roads, eh? ;-) Oh yeah. :-) What say the rest of you? Should [sorry, I don't know his or her name] take 140 to 49 to 41, or take the longer but less winding route of 99 to 41? Patty > Thanks. Sound like you are saying 49 south from Mariposa is best. I see > a "Chowcilla Mountain Rd" that cuts from 49 to Wanona Rd. Any experience > with Chowcilla Mountain Rd. I'll likely be in a rental mini-van. Nice > performance vehicle for curvy, cliff-hugging, windy roads, eh? ;-) From Merced I would take 99 north to Modesto, 132 east to Coulterville. From Coulterville there is a road east that insects 120 just a few miles from Groveland. This way you avoid the steep and winding Priest Grade. Don in Tracy, Calif. >Thanks. Sound like you are saying 49 south from Mariposa is best. I see a >"Chowcilla Mountain Rd" that cuts from 49 to Wanona Rd. Any experience with >Chowcilla Mountain Rd. I'll likely be in a rental mini-van. Nice >performance vehicle for curvy, cliff-hugging, windy roads, eh? ;-) Oh yes, I've driven this road before (E->W) and I W->E for the 1st time. It's a dirt and gravel road in places. It's steep and rutted. >>>Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. What is the best way >>>to >>>get to/from the Valley and Merced? The Park is recommending 120 to 132 (the old Modesto road) over 41. Then take 99 to Merced. You can substitute 49 for various scenic short cuts. Here are some photos of the rock slide: http://www.mariposacounty.org/sheriff/Rock%20Slide%20May%2029%202006.htm There's also a link to an update from the county board of supervisors chairman. It sounds like PG&E will have power rerouted by tonight, so if the landslide takes out those towers, it won't matter. Obviously, the next big question is what to do about Hwy 140, and other reports have said that Caltrans is considering alternatives about that. Patty >From what I've been reading, it may be possible that Highway 140 will *NEVER* reopen. > Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. What is the best way to > get to/from the Valley and Merced? > > Thanks. I would consider that unlikely. The two other existing roads would require significant upgrades to carry the traffic that was using 140. I really do not see the US Park Service putting that sort of money into the one park. Nor can I see California letting Yosemite become a park that is difficult to access. It might be good for the park in the long run but bad for the state. >>From what I've been reading, it may be possible that Highway 140 will > *NEVER* reopen. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> >>Thanks. >I would consider that unlikely. The two other existing roads would >require significant upgrades to carry the traffic that was using 140. I >really do not see the US Park Service putting that sort of money into >the one park. Nor can I see California letting Yosemite become a park >that is difficult to access. It might be good for the park in the long >run but bad for the state. brentrjonas@aol.com wrote: >>>From what I've been reading, it may be possible that Highway 140 will >> *NEVER* reopen. While I agree with the start of Frank's post, it doesn't quite all work the way he says. The somewhat expensive solution as done in the Alps, Canada, and elsewhere which have avalanches and slides is to cover and bridges parts of roads. There is a secondary problem of damming the Merced ridge (flood danger when the dam breaches). 140 is the crappiest of the 3 roads in that its narrow and windy. The river undermines its bed just like the railroad. 120 and 41 while wider and less curvey are both high and subject to snow. 140 is the low lying retreat in winter. The major exterior park infrastructure is in El Portal where friends live (including one netter). It is the 1st or 2nd post visited no-urban Natl. park in the US depending on year at about 4M tourists. Tough decisions will have to be made. The number of fatal rock falls is going to have to have some decisions made. Anyways, I am leaving for Alaska. --An ex-95389 resident > Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. What is the best way to > get to/from the Valley and Merced? If I read my map right, there is Incline Rd on the other side of the river. Is this a useable option? >> Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. > >If I read my map right, there is Incline Rd on the other side of the river. >Is this a useable option? No. >> What is the best way to get to/from the Valley and Merced? Home of the new UC Merced? Oh. Take 140 to Mariposa then take 49 S to Oakhurst and then go North on 41 like the rest of the Fresno-LA traffic. Otherwise go N on 49, and at Colterville go East on 132 to 120, etc. 6 months? And hope for no snow. It's amazing to me the number of stop lights Oakhurst has now..... > >> Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. > > > >If I read my map right, there is Incline Rd on the other side of the river. > >Is this a useable option? > > No. Not quite the level detail I was looking for, so let me clarify: If one has a bicycle, is there a way through by going on the other side of the river? (Note: I believe Caltrans plans on running their temporary bridge over to the other side of the river.) >> >> Sounds like 140 is going to be closed for 6 months. >> > >> >If I read my map right, there is Incline Rd on the other side of the river. >> >Is this a useable option? Eugene Miya wrote: >> No. > >Not quite the level detail I was looking for, so let me clarify: > >If one has a bicycle, is there a way through >by going on the other side of the river? The Merced? It's running high. The next chance I may go thru the Park over to Bishop but may stop to see friends in the Valley to recover some bear literature I loaned Jeff (a ranger who used to read and post in r.b.) won't be until about July 8. >(Note: I believe Caltrans plans on running their >temporary bridge over to the other side >of the river.) I am not privy to Caltrans plans at this time. The closure isn't merely about the CA140. It's about rock slides, a common occurance in mountain areas which non-resident travellers tend not to think much about. There's a minor dam on the Merced with this slide. If you google old news about rock slides and Yosemite you will find articles about the modest (some would say Big, they are wrong) slide which killed a guy in Happy Isles. This is why also there is no stopping allowed next to Camp 4 (the Rixon pinnacle area). Sure they may do a temp bridge over the Merced. Entirely possible, but they won't do anything stupid because one of their guys was killed in an avalanche plowing 120 due part due to political pressure to get the road open for economic interests. They don't really even want civilians walking around the slide area. Of course every area there is a slide area. >If one has a bicycle, is there a way through >by going on the other side of the river? I don't recall exactly where the bridges are in relation to the slide area, but I think this information on the interagency incident management site (http://www.inciweb.org/incident/236/) would scotch that idea: Forest closure around the slide area restricts all public access, including river rafting, within 1/4 mile of either side of the Merced River between the confluences of Ned Gulch and the South Fork of the Merced River. Caltrans road closure extends beyond the Forest Closure order. >(Note: I believe Caltrans plans on running their >temporary bridge over to the other side >of the river.) That's my understanding, too. Actually, my understanding is that there will be two bridges, one to take people across the river before the slide area, and the other to bring them back across after it. There are maps on the above-mentioned site that might help you visualize where the problem area is. Patty |
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