Going to the mountains for Memorial Day? Roads and campgrounds are closed. Here’s where

In a typical year, the national parks and national forests of the Sierra Nevada range offer an opportunity for picnics, hiking or camping over the Memorial Day holiday weekend for families from Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley.

But in what’s been anything but a typical year, those plans are likely to be in jeopardy for would-be visitors to the mountains. Many parts of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, as well as parts of the Sierra and Sequoia national forests, remain closed by the volume of snow that remains in the mountains from this winter’s record snowfall, or damage to roads from flooding after heavy winter rains.

Those closures could last well beyond Memorial Day into the summer.

In Kings Canyon National Park east of Fresno, Highway 180 is open to Grant Grove Village. But if your plans include venturing higher into the mountains, prepare to be disappointed. Kings Canyon Road is closed beyond Hume Lake Road — which means there is no access to the park’s popular Cedar Grove along the south fork of the Kings River.

Also closed from Grant Grove Village is the Generals Highway, the road that connects Kings Canyon National Park with its southern counterpart, Sequoia National Park.

“Due to severe road damage along the Highway 180 corridor between Grant Grove and Cedar Grove, Caltrans does not expect repairs to be completed before the end of the summer season,” the National Park Service warns on its website. “This means public access is not expected into the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park for the 2023 summer season.”

Parking in the Grant Grove area is likely to be limited because of high accumulations of snow in snow-play areas, but visitors can access the famous General Grant giant sequoia tree for which the grove is named. The Grant Grove Market is open, and restrooms are open at the Kings Canyon Visitors Center, Azalea Campground, Grant Grove Market, the General Grant tree and the Columbine Picnic area. Portable toilets are also open at the Big Stump picnic and snowplay area.

The Grant Grove Restaurant and Gift Shop are open, and the John Muir Lodge is open by reservation only for people looking for a place to stay.

In Sequoia National Park

You won’t fare much better if you’re thinking about entering Sequoia National Park from its southern entrance at Ash Mountain, on Highway 198 near Three Rivers in Tulare County.

Only about six miles of the Generals Highway — the continuation of Highway 198 within the parks — is open to traffic to as far as Hospital Rock. Parking is expected to be very limited at Hospital Rock on weekends.

The Potwisha Campground is open for camping by reservation only, and the Foothills Visitor Center is open each day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

But while the area near the park’s Foothills Visitor Center offers hiking trails that are open, and views of spring wildflowers, there’s no snow in the area. There’s also no access to the park’s Giant Forest, including the General Sherman tree and other big sequoia trees, or to Lodgepole, Wolverton, Wuksachi or Moro Rock – some of the park’s most notable sights.

The Buckeye Flat Campground is closed this year due to damage from winter storms, but restrooms at the campground are available. Other restroom facilities are open at Hospital Rock, the Foothills Visitor Center, the Potwisha Campground and Potwisha overflow parking area.

The road to Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park is closed because of significant road damage, with no timeline available on when it might reopen. Also closed is the Mineral King Road, which ventures off of Highway 198 before it enters the park. That has cut off access to the Mineral King area of the park and its ranger station, as well as other giant sequoia trees, the Silver City Resort, and nearby wilderness areas.

“Public access (on Mineral King Road) is not anticipated before mid-June,” the park website states. “It is still unknown what, if any, public access will be available this summer.”

In Yosemite National Park

At one of the the region’s busiest tourist destinations, Yosemite National Park, road conditions mean that drivers won’t be able to reach some popular areas, and Big Oak Flat Road — one of the main roads into the park for visitors from northern California — is closed entirely due to failure of the road after this winter’s storms.

The majestic Yosemite Valley is open, although a spike in temperatures could cause that to change if the Merced River is in danger of flooding from snowmelt at higher elevations.

Tioga Road, the continuation of Highway 120 across the crest of the Sierra Nevada range from the park to U.S. Highway 395 on the east side of the mountains near Lee Vining and Mono Lake, is closed. Park officials say they expect that road — which more often than not is open before the Memorial Day weekend — will open later than usual this summer because of the heavy snowpack.

Also closed are the Glacier Point Road, expected to open no earlier than July because of heavy snow and road construction, and the Mariposa Grove Road and park shuttle service to the grove near the park’s southern entrance from Highway 41. “The Mariposa Grove Road and shuttle service will open no earlier than end of May, probably later, due to road damage,” the park website warns.

In the national forests

In the Sierra National Forest, a slew of forest roads, trails and trailheads and recreation sites in mountain areas of Mariposa, Madera and Fresno counties have been ordered closed through at least mid-June by the U.S. Forest Service.

The closure order includes 32 campgrounds, trailheads and picnic sites, 41 forest trails, and six forest roads including the Stump Springs, Old Railroad Grade, Red Mountain, Minarets, Beasore and Nelder Grove roads in both the High Sierra and Bass Lake ranger districts.

That includes numerous roads in the areas of Shaver Lake and Huntington Lake in eastern Fresno County that are either closed or in need of repair. Notably, the Dinkey Creek Road from Shaver Lake to Dinkey Creek is closed, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Details on other closures are available on a map on the Forest Service website at www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MEDIA/fseprd1105509.jpg.

To the south, additional closures are in effect in the Sequoia National Forest. Some of those closures are due to hazards from the winter storms and snowpack, but others are continued closures in areas that were previously burned by wildfires and have yet to be reopened by forest managers in the Hume Lake, Western Divide and Kern River ranger districts.

Those various Sequoia National Forest closure orders and maps are available online at www.fs.usda.gov/detail/sequoia/notices/?cid=FSEPRD539396