Wawona Tunnel

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]

Wawona Tunnel
The east end of the tunnel
Overview
LocationYosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County, California, USA
Coordinates37°42′57″N 119°41′09″W
Route SR 41
Operation
Opened1933 (1933)
OwnerCaltrans
Technical
Length4,233 feet (1,290 m)
No. of lanestwo 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.

Specifications

At 4,233 feet (1,290 m) long Wawona Tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in California.[2][6]

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.[7]

See also

References

  1. Leonnig, Carol D. (May 3, 2008). "Yosemite's Wawona Tunnel could be dangerous". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  2. Rabold, John (November 2010). "Yosemite FAQs". A Guide to Yosemite National Park. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  3. "Place Names of the High Sierra (1926), "W," by Francis P. Farquhar". www.yosemite.ca.us. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  4. "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.
  5. Travis, Virginia (December 1984). "Yosemite National Park: Wawona Tunnel". Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  6. 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.
  7. "Ansel Adams: Photography from the Mountains to the Sea exhibition opens in London". The Guardian. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
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