New access road improvements to the Northeast Entrance Road after a severe flood in June 2001: Park Superintendent Cam Sholly, P.C. Sholly and L.N. Drake
The park began allowing regular visitor vehicle traffic along the Northeast Entrance Road starting Saturday for the first time since it closed the gate in June in response to severe weather.
“We are very pleased to be restoring public access to the northeast corridor just four months after the June flood event,” Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.
“I commend the collective efforts of the National Park Service, the Federal Highway Administration and Oftedal Construction, Inc. to complete this monumental task in such a short amount of time,” Sholly added.
The June storm sent rivers to “unprecedented” levels and created record-breaking flooding in Yellowstone, according to the National Weather Service.
The main roads in the park are closed because of weather and fire, making it difficult for visitors to get to the rest of the park. This has caused damage to culverts, erosion and fallen trees. Other park roads have also been affected by washouts; at least one campground was destroyed.
Kevin Drake co-owns the Alibi Ale Works in Lake Tahoe and had challenges that included loss of weekend business and infrastructure issues. Beer shipments to distributors were delayed due to the closing of mountain passes.
The State of the Mountain Road in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Traffic, Precession, and Restricted Repairs
Travelers can expect the mountains to be busy, with traffic to match. Ms. Burke recommends visiting Mammoth midweek, and Ms. Guinn encourages downloading apps for resorts (which share current weather information and more) and checking the Caltrans website for the latest on road conditions.
The difference between a stunning snowpack and major damage can be made by a drop in elevation. That’s the case in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, home to giant sequoia trees and the site of the KNP Complex Fire in 2021.
“We thought that this was going to be our year,” said Sintia Kawasaki-Yee, the park’s communications director, referring to the damage that the pandemic and wildfires had already inflicted. The pendulum has moved in a different direction.
There is a chance that you can access the Giant Forest sooner rather than later. There will be at least one lane of traffic in at least one section of the General’s Road, and another section of the unpaved road.
It’s unclear what conditions will be in the summer and how long repairs will take on other sections of the road, including the upper portion that connects Sequoia and King’s Canyon in the summer (the section is always closed in the winter).