Expert: Ernest Tufft - 7/18/2007

Question
Hi Ernest,

My family plans to go to Yosemite Valley this summer.  I am a little afraid of high and not very good driving along the cliff.  (It was not a happy thing when I took 198 to Sequre natinal park two years ago.) I can take highway 41 from Fresno or take 140 from Merced into Yosemite Valley.  Out of these two choices, which one is easy to drive?  Are those two routes easier than 198?

Thanks,

Steven  

Answer
Steven,

Both routes into Yosemite Valley are relatively easy to drive, and won't include many cliff side drops.  Highway 140 is the main entrance, and quicker from the flats of the San Joaquin Valley,  It is also the supposed "all season" route following the Merced River, the main river in Yosemite Valley, but it actually suffers from more landslide problems than the other routes on the west side.  Nevertheless, the region of the landslides are in a crumbly shale geological formation downstream from Yosemite, a geological formation that is actually older than the Yosemite Valley itself, and many people believe should be part of the park.  But, this road basically contours to the snaking Merced river and doesn't ride along any steep cliffs, for the most part.  Don't take Hwy 198 for sure.  The Tioga Pass will be terrifying for you.  The drop from Yosemite alpine region to the Nevada desert on the Tioaga Pass is one of the greatest of any highway in the world, and there are hundreds of twists along horribly steep cliffs.