Tioga Pass

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Tioga Pass as seen from Tioga Lake after a June snow, 2003

Tioga Pass (elevation 9,943 ft, 3030.6 m) is a pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. California Highway 120 runs through it, and serves as the eastern entry point for Yosemite National Park. Mount Dana is to the east of the pass. There are several trailheads into the Yosemite backcountry which begin at Tioga Pass, including the trail to the Gaylor Lakes to the west/northwest, and the rough trail to the summit of Mount Dana. Dana Meadows is immediately south of the pass alongside the highway, as the pass itself is roughly angled north/south as opposed to east/west. Dana Meadows contains several small lakes.

This pass, like many other passes in the Sierra Nevada, has a gradual approach from the west and drops off to the east dramatically, losing more than 3,000 ft (914 m) by the time the road reaches U.S. Route 395.

Tioga Pass is named after Tioga Mine, whose name originated in New York: "Tioga" is named for an Iroquois and Mohawk term meaning "where it forks".

The pass is subject to winter closure, due to high snowfall, normally from around the end of October until the end of May the following year, though these dates are subject to considerable variation. In heavy snow years, the road usually closes in early-October and could open as late as mid-July. In light snow years, the road could be closed in December and open as soon as April.

Tioga Pass is the most direct route from Bishop or Mammoth Lakes, California to Fresno, Merced, and Stockton. There are four passes to the north, between Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, but none to the south for hundreds of miles, until California State Route 178, crossing through Bakersfield, California and Lake Isabella.