Highway to Yosemite National Park closed due to cracked road. It’s expected to last months

Gaining entry into Yosemite National Park from one route will have to wait a while as a cracked road needs repairs, officials said Thursday.

The Big Oak Flat Road (the continuation of Highway 120 west into Yosemite) is closed from just inside the park boundary to Merced Grove.

Officals said the road has a crack that is about 200 feet long and up to four feet deep, and the road surface has moved two to three inches vertically and horizontally. The road is continuing to shift, the park service said Thursday in an update on social media.

One embankment below the road has moved as much as 15 feet downslope and has significant water flow through it.

“It is not safe to open the road even to limited traffic, and doing so would likely lead to additional road failure.”

Officials said the road closure will last until mid-June and possibly into July.

“We are working with the Federal Highway Administration to start repairs as soon as possible,” officials said.

Visitors looking to get to Yosemite National Park can enter Yosemite via Highway 120 from the west can reach Hodgdon Meadow and Hetch Hetchy, but not other areas of the park (including Yosemite Valley).

From Yosemite Valley, visitors can drive up the Big Oak Flat Road to reach the Tuolumne and Merced Groves of Giant Sequoias, officials said.