Highway 120 over the Tioga Pass reopened today/Friday at Noon after being closed because of a series of rock slides caused by a hail & rainstorm 9 days earlier. The roadway had been closed from 3 miles east of the east boundary of Yosemite National Park to 3 miles west of the junction of US 395.
Cal Trans, National Park Service & private contractor work crews continue to clear the highway. That project is expected to take several more days…perhaps even weeks. Because of the continuing road work, the slide area is subject of some traffic/lane controls but with minimal delays.
A 5 mile stretch of the highway near Lake Ellery was hit by 10 separate slides with some of the larger individual rocks weighing as much as 5 tons. Just as government agencies give names to forest fires, this slide had a name too: the Red Slide.
Travelers should note that Highway 120 from the west (S.F., Central Valley, etc.) continues to be open to Yosemite National Park and was never affected by this slide.