Crews Clear 20 Miles of Snowpack to Reach Recreation Area
TUOLUMNE COUNTY – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 10 will officially open State Route 108 (SR-108) all the way to the Kennedy Meadows Recreation and Pack Station at 9:00 a.m., Monday, May 15, 2023, after clearing away approximately 20 miles of snowpack left behind after this winter’s storms.
Crews have worked each day since April 3, 2023, to clear the snowpack from the near record snowfall that occurred between late December and into early May. According to estimates, the snowpack is nearly 200-percent higher than an average year and 250- percent more than recent drought years. During the past five weeks, they have encountered avalanches, mudslides, downed trees and tree debris, and even boulders that needed to be exploded and hauled away.
Reaching Kennedy Meadows is one of the hallmarks of each spring’s snowpack removal along SR-108. Crews must clear approximately eight miles more to reach Sonora Pass which, at 9,634 feet, forms the Tuolumne/Mono County line. They expect to reach the summit in approximately one month
