Ebbetts Pass opens early before Memorial Day
- Caltrans reopened State Route 4 over Ebbetts Pass at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, giving the central Sierra another pre-Memorial Day crossing. - The telling detail is the pairing: Monitor Pass on Highway 89 reopened March 5, so two eastern Sierra routes are already open unusually early. - That matters for hikers, cyclists, and weekend travelers — access is arriving weeks earlier than in heavy-snow years.
Mountain pass news can sound niche, but this one changes real trip planning. Caltrans reopened Ebbetts Pass — State Route 4 over the central Sierra — at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6. That puts another high-country route back on the map before Memorial Day, which is earlier than a lot of people expect. And because Monitor Pass on Highway 89 already reopened on March 5, Northern California and the eastern Sierra just got a lot easier to reach without waiting for the holiday weekend. (dot.ca.gov) ### What exactly opened? Ebbetts Pass is the seasonal stretch of Highway 4 that crosses Alpine County at high elevation and links the Highway 49 side of the Sierra to the east side near Markleeville. It closes every winter because snow, ice, debris, and avalanche conditions make that narrow road unsafe. Caltrans said the 2026 opening follows a winter closure that began on December 26, 2025. (dot.ca.gov) ### Why is this earlier than usual? Because Memorial Day is still weeks away. Caltrans and local route trackers treat late May as the rough benchmark for many Sierra seasonal openings, but Ebbetts is already back. The road can open much later in big winters — the pass didn’t reopen until June 8 in 2023 — so a May 6 opening is a pretty clear sign that this spring’s clearing work moved faster. (scenic4.org) ### What made the opening possible? Snow removal crews from Caltrans’ Woodfords and Camp Connell stations pushed through the route ahead of schedule. The tricky part is that Ebbetts is not a wide, forgiving highway. Parts of it are narrow, steep, and effectively one-lane in spots, so crews were dealing not just with snow but with downe(scenic4.org)casual driving conditions. (dot.ca.gov) ### Why does Monitor Pass matter here? Because Ebbetts is not the only early opener. Monitor Pass on State Route 89 reopened at noon on March 5, making it the first Mono County highway to reopen for the season. Put those together and you get two Sierra crossings open before Memorial Day — a useful shift for anyone trying to piece together loops through Markleeville, Highway 395, or the central Sierra backcountry. (dot.ca.gov) ### Who feels this first? Weekend travelers, motorcyclists, cyclists, anglers, and hikers. Ebbetts is one of those roads that functions like a switch — closed, and whole chunks of the map feel cut off; open, and trailheads, camp approaches, and scenic drives suddenly become practical again. Active NorCal highlighted Pacific Crest Trail access and backcountry entry points as one immediate benefit. (activenorcal.com) ### Is it fully “summer normal” now? Not quite. Early opening does not erase mountain risk. Monitor Pass can still see storm-related closures after reopening, and Caltrans warns drivers on these roads to expect changing conditions. Basically, the gate is open, but the mountains are still in charge. (dot.ca.gov) ### So what’s the real takeaway? The big story is access. Two Sierra passes are open before Memorial Day, and Ebbetts joined that list on May 6. After years when snowpack pushed openings deep into late spring or even June, this year’s calendar gives travelers a head start — but only if they treat “open” as permission to go prepared, not permission to relax. (dot.ca.gov)
