Main road into Yosemite National Park closed after rain triggers rockslide

After several recent rains, a main highway into Yosemite National Park is closed indefinitely due to a rockslide, state officials said.

About a two-mile stretch of Route 140 between Briceburg and El Portal leading into the park is closed after wet weather caused rocks to fall onto the road in a narrow canyon, SFGate reported.

In the last few weeks, California has been hit with repeated storms that have dumped feet of snow in the mountains and created debris flows and rockslides on highways across the state.

The Yosemite Valley recorded 7.38 inches of rain during last week’s storms, while El Portal recorded 6.48 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

In a Facebook post, the California Highway Patrol suggested motorists use State Routes 41 and 120 as alternatives to enter Yosemite.

Brian Hooker, a public information officer for Caltrans, said the slide area is located in a high, narrow canyon en route to El Portal and Yosemite, which made it difficult to address the debris slide.

“With the slide covering both east and westbound lanes in Briceburg, our Caltrans maintenance and highway operations crew were forced to use State Route 41 as a detour route through Yosemite National Park to reach the east side of the slide in to further assess the magnitude of the debris slide,” Hooker said in an email.

No timeline for the cleanup was provided, as the crew needs to access the hillside and clear the debris. For real-time information on the roads, download Caltrans’ QuickMap app.