All-Year State Highway.—The main paved route to Yosemite Valley from all
California points, both north and south, is through Merced on the
Pacific Highway through the San Joaquin Valley (Route 99). From Merced
the State maintains the splendid paved All-Year Highway to El Portal
(Route 140) and from El Portal the National Park Service maintains a
similar highway to Yosemite Valley. It is 83 miles long and is the
shortest, easiest, and most popular route from Merced, a high-gear
modern highway, requiring 2½ hours to drive from Merced to Yosemite
Valley. It is open and safely traveled every day of the year.
During the winter months visitors may obtain the latest accurate
information on the snow conditions and winter sports at the automobile
association offices. Visit the quaint old town of Mariposa, center of
the gold rush in the days of ’49. See the oldest courthouse in the
State, built in 1854.
By Seasonal Mountain Roads.—There are two other main routes across the
Yosemite National Park leading into the Yosemite Valley, viz, the Wawona
Road from the south and the Big Oak Flat Road from the north. The Tioga
Road crosses the center of the park from east to west and connects with
the Big Oak Flat Road. The Wawona Road is reached from Fresno, Madera,
or Merced and points south and west of the park. The Big Oak Flat Road
may be reached from Stockton, Modesto, Oakdale, and points north and
west of the park. The Tioga Road may be reached on the east at Mono Lake
from Lake Tahoe and points north, from Tonopah, Nev., and points east,
from Bishop, Big Pine, and Mojave, and points south. On the west it
connects with the Big Oak Flat Road at Carl Inn. Motorists using these
roads will experience no serious difficulty if their cars are in good
condition. In wet weather chains are advisable.
[Illustration: One of the many meadows in Yosemite.]
The Tioga Road.—Up the east slope of the Sierra Nevadas, through the
scenic, spectacular Leevining Canyon, and from east to west across the
mountain-top paradise winds the Tioga Road, which has a romantic
history. It was built by Chinese labor in 1881 to a gold mine east of
the park, but as the mine did not pay the expenses of getting out the
ore it was quickly abandoned and soon became impassable. In 1915 a group
of public-spirited citizens, headed by the Honorable Stephen T. Mather,
purchased it from the present owners of the old mining property and
presented it to the Government. When a young man, Mark Twain visited
Mono Lake on the Tioga Road. Following is his own inimitable description
from Roughing It:
Mono Lake is a hundred miles in a straight line from the ocean—and
between it and the ocean are one or two ranges of mountains—yet
thousands of sea gulls go there every season to lay their eggs and
rear their young. One would as soon expect to find sea gulls in
Kansas. And in this connection let us observe another instance of
nature’s wisdom. The islands in the lake being merely huge masses of
lava, coated over with ashes and pumice stone, and utterly innocent of
vegetation or anything that would burn; and sea gulls’ eggs being
entirely useless to anyone unless they be cooked, nature has provided
an unfailing spring of boiling water on the largest island, and you
can put your eggs in there, and in 4 minutes you can boil them as hard
as any statement I have made during the past 15 years. Within 10 feet
of the boiling spring is a spring of pure, cold water, sweet and
wholesome. So in that island you get your board and washing free of
charge—and if nature had gone farther and furnished a nice American
hotel clerk, who was crusty and disobliging, and didn’t know anything
about the time-tables, or the railroad routes—or—anything—and was
proud of it—I would not wish for a more desirable boarding house.