Snow Shuts Sonora Pass: Your Guide to California's Second-Highest Paved Crossing

Introduction: The Steepest Way Over the Sierra Goes Quiet

Sonora Pass is not the easy way over the Sierra Nevada. Highway 108 climbs from the Gold Country town of Sonora through pine forest and granite to 9,624 feet, over grades that reach about 26 percent in places, with hairpins that fold the road back on itself and drop-offs that keep both hands on the wheel. Only Tioga Pass, to the south in Yosemite, is a higher paved crossing in California. That drama is exactly why drivers seek it out, and exactly why snow ends the conversation early. On Wednesday, October 21, the conversation ended.

What Happened: One Storm, Three Passes Closed

Caltrans District 9 announced the closure in an October 20 release, reprinted by Sierra Wave: State Route 108 over Sonora Pass would close on Wednesday, October 21, at 8:00 a.m. at the gate near the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, ahead of an incoming storm. The same release closed State Route 120 at the Lee Vining gate at 5:00 p.m. that day, the eastern end of Tioga Road through Yosemite.

Sonora was not alone. Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4 also closed Wednesday morning, and reporting from Autoblog and Men's Journal, citing the National Weather Service and local outlets, said Caltrans planned to keep Sonora and Ebbetts in intermittent closure status until crews could check the roads after the storm. No reopening time was announced for any of the three passes.

The weather behind it was a genuine early-season Sierra storm. The National Weather Service in Reno issued a winter weather advisory for Mono County above 8,000 feet, calling for 4 to 8 inches of snow with up to 10 inches on the highest peaks, plus winds gusting as high as 40 mph, from Wednesday, October 21, through Thursday, October 22. Forecasters warned both the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes would be affected.

Caltrans District 9, working with District 10 and the California Highway Patrol, said it would reassess Sonora and Tioga after the storm and reopen them as soon as conditions are safe. That word, reassess, matters. A temporary storm closure can become the winter closure if more snow stacks up, because Sonora Pass normally shuts from about November to May. Until Caltrans says otherwise, treat the pass as closed. The live picture is on Caltrans QuickMap, and roads.dot.ca.gov carries current status for Routes 108, 120, and 4.

The Drive: Sonora to Highway 395, About 80 Miles Over the Top

When it is open, this is one of the great committed drives in California. There is no casual version of Sonora Pass: once you climb past Kennedy Meadows, the road narrows, steepens, and stops offering easy turnarounds. Drive it west to east with these landmarks in mind:

• Sonora and Twain Harte — the Gold Country start. Fuel, food, and the last full services before the climb. Sonora's 1850s downtown is worth a stop on its own.
• Pinecrest Lake and Strawberry — the family-lake country along the South Fork Stanislaus River, where the forest thickens and the road starts its real ascent.
• Kennedy Meadows — the pack station and resort near the start of the steepest climbing. Westbound, this is roughly where storm closures bite; eastbound, it is your signal that the hard descent is done.
• Sonora Pass summit, 9,624 feet — a small parking area, a summit sign, and the Pacific Crest Trail crossing the highway on its way from Mexico to Canada. The air is thin, the views run for miles, and snow can linger here long after the low country is warm.
• Leavitt Meadows and Leavitt Falls — the road unwinds off the east side past meadows along the West Walker River, with the falls a short detour near the highway.
• Highway 395 and Bridgeport — the eastern landing. From the junction you can turn south toward Lee Vining and Yosemite's east gate, which is why Sonora pairs so naturally with our guide to Tioga Road's snow closure when both are open.

A warning the road itself gives you: those 26 percent grades and tight switchbacks are no place for long trailers, big RVs, or anyone who dreads steep descents. Use low gears on the way down, let faster locals by at turnouts, and remember there is little to no cell service over the top.

Practical Tips: Crossing the Sierra While Sonora Is Closed

1. Do not route over Sonora, Tioga, or Ebbetts until Caltrans reopens them. All three closed on October 21, and none had a reopening time when the storm hit. A maps app showing a line over the pass is not an opening.
2. Check conditions right before you leave, not the night before. Start with Caltrans QuickMap and the Yosemite conditions page from the National Park Service, which tracks Tioga and Glacier Point roads. Conditions above 8,000 feet changed by the hour during this storm.
3. Use a lower, maintained crossing instead. With the three high passes shut, Sierra crossings shift to lower routes such as Carson Pass on Highway 88 or Interstate 80 over Donner Pass. Verify the one you pick is open and check its chain controls before committing.
4. Carry chains and know the rules if you drive anything that stays open. Under R2 controls, four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles still need snow-tread tires on all four wheels and must carry traction devices; R3 requires chains on every vehicle. Practice fitting them at home, not on a snowy shoulder.
5. Yosemite Valley is still reachable from the west. Park roads from the west and south, including Big Oak Flat, El Portal, and Wawona roads, were listed open in the park's conditions during the closure, with weekday delays. The east-side entrance over Tioga is the one that shut. The park situation mirrors the one in our Glacier Point Road guide: high roads close, valley roads carry on.
6. Watch bridges, overpasses, and shaded corners. Even below the snow line, those surfaces ice first and stay icy longest, especially on early morning drives after a storm like this one.

When to Go

If Caltrans reopens Sonora after this storm, the window will be short and worth taking: late October light, fresh snow on the peaks, empty midweek traffic, and gold in the aspens along the Walker River. Go on a clear day, start early, and be over the summit well before afternoon temperatures drop and meltwater refreezes on the road.

If it does not reopen, that is the season. Sonora Pass typically stays closed from about November until mid-May, and the drive becomes a spring prize instead: waterfalls running hard, snowbanks still standing beside the road at the summit, and the steepest, most alive version of Highway 108. Either way, the next opening is the day to go.

The Bottom Line

Three of California's great high passes closed in a single day because the Sierra reminded everyone who is in charge up there. Sonora Pass will be back, steep and spectacular as ever. Until Caltrans lifts the gate, cross lower, carry chains, and save Highway 108 for the clear morning it was built for.