Overnight Parking Along Highway 120 in Yosemite After Octobe

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Ikan Mas
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Overnight Parking Along Highway 120 in Yosemite After Octobe

Post by Ikan Mas »

According to the Yosemite website:

Overnight parking is not permitted between October 15 and the opening of the road in spring.

Does this include parking lots, or just along the road?

I also note that the shuttle buses stop running after September.

Short of having a friend drop me off or hiking up from the valley, how would one access the Tuolumne Meadows area after October 15 for an overnight trip? Is this a de facto closure? I'm not trying to make issue with the NPS, just would like to get in one last trip later this month. Thanks.
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rlown
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Re: Overnight Parking Along Highway 120 in Yosemite After Octobe

Post by rlown »

I believe they don't want people parking anywhere for snow removal. You should call the park. Worst case is you get dropped off and then they lock the gate at the bottom of the hill. It's a nice hike out in that case. Make sure if you do, you sign the permit with your intended hike so they know you're in the park. I think they moved that to the stone hut towards the Tuolumne Lodge after they closed the normal wilderness permit station. Mark and I did that a few years ago the first of Oct.
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AlmostThere
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Re: Overnight Parking Along Highway 120 in Yosemite After Octobe

Post by AlmostThere »

They do that every year like clockwork, so folks don't ruin their cars by having them snowed in for the winter. (I note "chance of snow" in the forecast for the mountains this coming week, too. Not that it will necessarily close the road, but some years, it does.)

Friends dropping you off is about it. After snow falls, folks ski up the road. They use the hut at TM for a winter cache and a pair of rangers live there throughout winter.

If the weather holds, I'll be trying for an overnight out of Kings Canyon next weekend myself (another road that closes in winter.)
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: Overnight Parking Along Highway 120 in Yosemite After Octobe

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I just got back from a trip from Tioga Pass area- the only "legal" overnight parking is at the backpacking kiosk parking lot and the cathedral Lake trailhead next-to-road parking. They are doing construction at the visitor center and the campground is closed. I had to walk from the cathedral parking area back to the kiosk (took an hour). No busses are running. The grill and store are closed and all parking cordoned off. There still is parking at the trailhead to GC Tuolumne, but I think the Lambert Dome parking area is a day use only area. They said that they closed a lot of the services early this year because they have a lot of construction work to do. There were also a lot of construction delays on the Tioga Road (west side).

I did not try to hitch a ride but it is pretty easy. In fact I picked up a backpacker who needed a ride back to Yosemite Valley. There
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