Yosemite National Park remains closed, no estimated reopening date

Friday, March 3, 2023
Yosemite National Park remains closed, no estimated reopening date
Work is underway inside the park to clear tons of snow and restore critical services.

MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. -- Yosemite National Park remains closed with no estimate on when it might reopen. Work is underway inside the park to clear tons of snow and restore critical services.

There are 214 miles of paved roads inside the park -- all buried under feet of snow.

"It's all hands on deck. Everyone in the park," said Nancy Phillipe with Yosemite Fire. "All employees are working exceptionally hard."

Hundreds of Yosemite National Park workers are trying to get the park back to safe conditions after several rounds of winter storms plummeted the area with record-breaking snow.

National Park Service pictures show a Badger Pass A-Frame building almost entirely buried. The Curry Village tents have almost disappeared under feet of snow.

"We are setting records with the snow amounts," said Phillipe. "The snow stake at Badger Pass is 158 inches and that is completely buried."

A picture shows the doorway to a bathroom completely obstructed by snow piled feet high. There are parts of the park that are under 15 feet.

"Using as many tools as we can to sort of just dig out," said Phillipe. "It's hard to say where are we going to put that snow. All of the parking lots when we do open, we want to make sure that people can come in and have a safe visit. But where will they park? We have got to figure out places to relocate the snow."

The heavy snow is putting a strain on trees that can't support the weight.

"Evaluation of the roads. Not only that but hazard trees. Making sure that the weight of the snow on the trees isn't going to cause any problems," said Phillipe.

With more winter weather expected in the coming days, park officials are concerned about the growing avalanche risk.

"We have some spots on different roads in the park that we are really checking on and that those zones are safe," said Phillipe.

Yosemite National Park officials will be meeting with the National Weather Service for another briefing. They have what they are calling another monster system on the way, making it difficult to say when a re-opening could happen.

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