Public Meeting About Visitor Experience And Access

 UPDATE: Public Meeting About Visitor Experience and Access  

this Wednesday, February 8 

SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif. February 6, 2023 – Officials from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks will be hosting a public meeting on the topic of visitor experience and access on Wednesday, February 8, at 6 p.m. at the Three Rivers Memorial Building. This meeting has been rescheduled multiple times due to weather emergencies in and around the parks. The associated public comment period will remain open until Wednesday, February 15. This meeting will not be livestreamed, but the recording of a previous virtual public meeting on this topic can be found on the project site linked below. 

 

The National Park Service (NPS) is working on a visitor experience and access planning process for developed areas of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and is seeking public feedback to help identify key issues and ways the NPS can improve visitor experiences.  

 

The parks have experienced record-breaking levels of visitation over the last decade, and popular destinations in the parks can be challenging for visitors and staff to navigate, particularly during busy times. This project seeks to meet the changing needs of park visitors while sustainably addressing ongoing challenges attributed to high levels of visitation in the most popular areas of the parks.   

 

To learn more about this planning process and provide your feedback, please visit https://parkplanning.nps.gov/SEKIFrontcountryFall2022.  

 

Comments may also be mailed to:   

 

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks  

Attn: Visitor Experience and Access Plan   

47050 Generals Highway  

Three Rivers, CA 93271 

 

Future public comment periods will be announced as this effort moves forward. If you have any specific questions regarding this proposal, please contact Elly Boerke, Environmental Protection Specialist, at (559) 565-3102. 

 

An (unfortunate) update on the Mineral King Road

The Park Service, and especially District Ranger Dave Fox, have been very helpful in keeping us posted on the status of the Mineral King Road. The following is Dave's latest message, with the photo which accompanied it.

Friends,

We have been receiving assistance from two of our former maintenance employees in a rented back hoe working their way up toward Mineral King. Below Slapjack Creek, we found a significant washout that will need additional inspection before we are able to determine if the road will support even one lane of traffic.

With the weather prediction for this weekend, I'm not clear how this will shake out. Our crew has cleaned out the culvert the slide that was primarily responsible for this damage so hopefully we won't lose any more, but I'm afraid we'll have to wait and see. It looks like about ¾ inch of rain is predicted prior to some snow at this location.

I know it is tough waiting but that is still the safest thing to do. Please be patient and let the crew work their way through this. Keep your vehicles off the road for now. We can't guarantee the stability of the decomposed granite below that section of roadway and your safety is our greatest concern.

Thanks,

Dave Fox
Sequoia District Ranger

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Mineral King Update 1/21/2023

Hello friends,

I just spoke with Rick Hall who was on the helicopter today and able to review the storm damage from the air. The short answer is that there was no major significant damage (total road washouts) that we could see from above. There is a lot of erosion and rutting along the roadside but unless we missed anything major (possible) the two areas where the road has been undercut that you have previously seen are probably the worst damage to the road.

They flew the entire roadway and circled around the cabins looking for any obvious damage. They saw none. I know that won't put everyone's mind to ease as you are aware it is possible to miss seeing damage through the trees, but there was no obvious catastrophic damage to the cabins. No land, mud, or snow slides around them. No tree failures were seen to have impacted the structures. Overall, they said it look surprisingly good. 

Highbridge did release. Snow in that area is estimated to be 30 feet deep. That's going to be a challenge, like every year. There is still snow on the road, so it's possible that we missed something, but I'm feeling much more positive about the impacts thus far. 

Rick is working on getting some help through various means to put people on the Mineral King Road to start clearing slides and hardening drainages. We have to take certain steps to bring people on board, but he is working with some of our retirees to see if we can make a temporary hire or work through a volunteer process to speed things up. We need to take care of these folks, so it will take a bit of time to make anything happen. As always, I'll try to keep you apprised of our progress. 

Thanks, 

Dave Fox

Sequoia District Ranger

559-565-3710 office

559-565-3195 24-hour emergency operations center

9-1-1 Physical Emergency

9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Hotline

Mineral King Road Access Update

Date: Fri, Jan 20, 2023 at 11:42 AM
Subject: Mineral King Road

Friends,

I'm getting feedback that you may believe the road is 100% closed. I want to be very clear on my stance.

The road is closed to motor vehicles. Approximately ½ mile into the park there has been a large land slide that went over the road in a section where the road has been undercut (photo attached). Attempting to drive a motor vehicle over this is likely to result in further damage to the road. This is not the only undercut we are aware of.

I am not restricting access to your properties. Until we can get heavy equipment out there, it is unlikely you will find anyone working on the road or impacting our ability to get work done. There is minor road damage up to the ½ mile above the lower gate. I am asking you not to drive on the road past the gate as there is little to no parking, and limited space to turn around there. 

Walking and bike riding is not restricted at this time. I am issuing a warning that we do not know the status of the road, the number of washouts, the ease or ability to access Mineral King or Silver City. 

As discussed in the public forum last night, we are trying to get an overflight of the road tomorrow and may have more information about SIGNIFICANT washouts or issues, but that does not preclude road damage we can't see or assess from the air. 

Now that the weather is lightening up, there is a potential for snow melt, that could cause flash flooding or other portions of the road that just fail. 

While I don't recommend the long walk at this time, I am not prohibiting it. 

If you choose to visit your cabin, sharing any photos of the area would be helpful. Please geotag them if possible, and share them with the group. 

Thanks, 

Dave Fox

Sequoia District Ranger

559-565-3710 office

559-565-3195 24-hour emergency operations center

9-1-1 Physical Emergency

9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Hotline

Mineral King Road Closure

You all know that the Mineral King Road has been closed for the winter, and most of you have read about the damage to the road caused by this month's storms.

That damage is far greater than what anyone might have imagined. While there are many mudslides, fallen trees and large boulders blocking the road, those are the least of the problems. There are many places where large segments of the road have been washed away -- and worse, many places where the remaining pavement has been undercut, leaving what is left subject to collapse under any weight which might be placed upon it. And that kind of damage is visible now only on the lower part of the road which is not buried in snow.

As a result the road is now closed to all visitors. The combination lock which has allowed cabin owners to access the road is no longer accessible, and will remain locked off until the Park Service can be satisfied that minimal traffic might be safe. That will take a great deal of time, because until the snow melts it will not be safe to push a plow over what might well be an unsupported section of asphalt, and some of the required repairs may be very time consuming.

Under the circumstances, no one can predict when the road might again be open -- it may not be until well into the summer. As difficult as it may be, please try to be patient.

The Park Service is doing everything it can to survey the damage (even by hiring a helicopter to make aerial observations), to determine what repairs will be needed, to secure emergency funding to help pay for that work, and to secure the manpower, equipment and materials to do the work. And we are not alone with this problem. There are many other roads within the park which have been damaged -- including multiple washouts in the General's Highway.

The road below the lower gate, for which the County is responsible, has also suffered considerable damage. So PLEASE do not try a sightseeing drive up the road to see how far you can go, much less jump the gate and try to proceed further on foot or on skis.

The Park Service and the County will keep us advised of any changes in the road conditions and progress in the repair work, and we will immediately pass that information on to you.

Incidentally, the Park Service will be conducting a public briefing on conditions within the park tonight, January 19, at 6:00 PM at the Three Rivers Memorial Building. All are welcome to attend, and the program will also be available live on the Park's facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/SequoiaKingsNPS] -- and it will also be recorded for later viewing.

John Crowe

President, MKDA

Photos Along the Mineral King Road

 Amazing photos taken January 17, 2023 by Michael & Jana Botkin.

SEKi Visitor Experience Postponed

 

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Public Meeting About Visitor Experience and Access Postponed Until February, Public Meeting About Storm Impacts Scheduled for January 19

SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif. January 18, 2023 – As National Park Service personnel continue to assess damage and respond to emergencies in the parks following recent storms, a decision has been made to further postpone the public meeting scheduled for tonight in Three Rivers, CA, on the topic of visitor experience and access. Tomorrow, January 19, NPS officials will host a public meeting on the topic of storm impacts and response at the Three Rivers Memorial Building at 6 p.m.  

While the parks plan to resume their focus on the important work of long-term solutions to visitor experience and access challenges as soon as possible, storm response is currently the top priority, and these changes in the public meeting schedule reflect that. The public comment period associated with the visitor experience and access project has been extended through February 15, and the new date in February for the public meeting will be announced once it is established. For more information and to submit a comment visit https://parkplanning.nps.gov/SEKIFrontcountryFall2022. 

The storm systems that have been battering the state of California in recent weeks have caused significant damage to the Generals Highway, the main road that connects the parks. It is currently not possible to visit giant sequoias, including the world-famous General Sherman Tree, in Sequoia National Park. Severe damage has been found in most areas of the parks, with much more still to be assessed. The public meeting tomorrow, January 19, will detail what is known and unknown at this time, and endeavor to provide timelines where possible.  

While Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park has remained open throughout this time, major snow accumulation in that area has created its own access challenges. For current conditions please visit our website www.nps.gov/seki.