Wawona Tunnel
 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 | |
 | |
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 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
- ^ 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". web.archive.org. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
- ^ Travis, Virginia (December 1984). "Yosemite National Park: Wawona Tunnel". Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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, 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
- Wawona tunnel construction details (graphic), Library of Congress records (from yosemitenews.info/forum)
- Building the National Parks: Historic Landscape Design and Construction, Professor Linda Flint McClelland, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 18 Nov 1997, ISBN 978-0801855832 (Google Books)
