The Wawona Tunnel is a highway tunnel in Yosemite National Park. It, and Tunnel View just beyond its east portal, were completed in 1933.[1][2]
 The east end of the tunnel | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County, California, USA |
| Coordinates | 37°42′57″N 119°41′09″W / 37.71583°N 119.68583°W |
| Route |  SR 41 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1933 |
| Owner | Caltrans |
| Technical | |
| Length | 4,233 feet (1,290 m) |
| No. of lanes | two lanes total, one in each direction |
| Route map | |
 | |
Wawona Tunnel is named after the community of Wawona but its name origin is not known. A popular story claims Wawō'na was the Miwok word for "big tree", or for "hoot of the owl", a bird considered the sequoia trees' spiritual guardian.[3][4]
Route
Wawona Tunnel was bored through solid granite bedrock, and carries Wawona Road through a granite mountain on the south side of the Merced River.[5] It is located on one of the three main roads providing access to Yosemite Valley, the most visited section of the park. Wawona Road becomes California State Route 41 on exiting the park. After passing through the tunnel, when leaving Yosemite Valley, Wawona Road continues to Chinquapin Junction with Glacier Point Road to Badger Pass ski area & Glacier Point, and reaches an elevation of 6,039 feet (1,841 m) above sea level.
The completion of the tunnel shortened the trip to Yosemite by 40 miles (64 km) from Fresno and Southern California, compared to the All-Year Highway from Merced.[6]
Specifications
When it opened in 1933, the Wawona Tunnel was the longest automobile tunnel in the world and remains the longest highway tunnel in California at 4,233 feet (1,290 m) long.[2][7] The Tom Lantos Tunnels in Pacifica, California are 4,149 feet (1,265 m) .8 Miles long; the Caldecott Tunnel in Oakland, California is 3,771 feet (1,149 m) long. Both measured in their longest bores.
A $1.5 million federal highway contract to repair the tunnel's ventilation and electrical systems, and a separate contract to upgrade visitor services at Tunnel View, was completed in 2008.[1]
Scenery
The Wawona Tunnel features in a monochrome photograph by Ansel Adams: From Wawona Tunnel, Winter, Yosemite, about 1935.[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b Leonnig, Carol D. (May 3, 2008). "Yosemite's Wawona Tunnel could be dangerous". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ a b Rabold, John (November 2010). "Yosemite FAQs". A Guide to Yosemite National Park. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "Place Names of the High Sierra (1926), "W," by Francis P. Farquhar". www.yosemite.ca.us. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- ^ "The old-fashioned charm of Wawona - Sacramento Recreation and Places to Visit - Sacramento, Gold Country, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco | Sacramento Bee". 2008-12-02. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- ^ Travis, Virginia (December 1984). "Yosemite National Park: Wawona Tunnel". Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "Yosemite Trip Shortened by Wawona Tunnel". Big Pine Citizen. Vol. 22, no. 25. 17 June 1933. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
- ^ "Tunnel Increases Travel into Park". Sierra Sun. Vol. 65, no. 38. 16 November 1933. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
- ^ "Ansel Adams: Photography from the Mountains to the Sea exhibition opens in London". The Guardian. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
External links
- Driving through the Wawona Tunnel on YouTube
- Vehicle Restrictions, National Park Service
- Photo of Department of Agriculture Survey Plaque — dated 1936 and giving the tunnel's length as 4358.91 feet.
- Photo of ventilation fans, The Digital Ark Corporation
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. CA-105, "Wawona Tunnel, Wawona Road through Turtleback Dome, Yosemite Village, Mariposa County, CA", 16 photos, 2 color transparencies, 2 measured drawings, 16 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- McClelland, Linda Flint (November 18, 1997). Building the National Parks: Historic Landscape Design and Construction. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801855832.
