Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board PORTAL ROAD

As long as the "ROAD CLOSED" sign is there, the road is officially closed. However, they have cleared the road, you can easily drive around the sign, and I don't think anybody will hassle you if you drive up to the Portal and park. If there is a big storm or another rock slide, and you can't get your truck out for three weeks, the authorities will probably just shrug their shoulders and say "Tough S**t!" Use your own judgment.

I'm pretty sure somebody at the county is reading this board, because as of this morning, they put up a new sign:

That is so funny. Thanks for the laugh..

Reminds me of this car presently sitting up on White Mtn road:



Picture was taken March 14. Caught by a storm back in November.

Closed means closed, except when it doesn't! Every spring this board goes through the same process when the road is "closed", but passable. Horseshoe Meadows road and others are the same way. Lots of times you can drive on the road, but rocks still fall and maybe a late storm will strand you. The highway guys like to get it all cleaned up before they "open" the road. Pour moi, I tend to drive around barriers and see how far I can go. I once had to give up a car for months because of that tendency, but I had several cars and the one I used was a "back country beater" that I could be without. That was on the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire back before they kept in open in the winter.
At Whitney Portal in the spring you might could play the game and maybe get snowed in for a week, but I'd think hard about trying that in November!

Horseshoe Meadows Rd and a few others have gates that can't be driven around.

Rumour has it the "official" open date is May 1

Okay, so with respect to parking, where can one legally park in California as close to the portal as possible? I have a rental. Can I park it on the side of the road before the road closed sign?

(I've already written off one car this year...I'll never get insured if I have to file another claim.)

There is legal parking on the right just before the "Road Closed" sign.

Its curious that the Inyo FS does not place an impassible gate
on the Portal Road.

Make your own conclusions.

Probably because there are ongoing rumors that it will be kept clear (plowed in winter) all year long. (Although the gov't is good at pissing money down the drain, so a gate just before a decision to keep the road all year long would be appropriate.)

You can't cure stupid, nice try Doug. That sign applies to everyone, EXECPT those who know better than you, and have no problem putting others lives at risk due to them having taken time off from work AND driven all the way from xville to go up there.

i agree, the bird is the word, or at least the sign is. if it says closed, it is closed.

Somewhere... I can't remember where- I came upon a road in a similar situation. The sign said something like this:

ROAD NOT MAINTAINED BY COUNTY IN WINTER
UNMARKED HAZARDS EXIST
TRAVEL AT YOUR OWN RISK
EMERGENCY SERVICES NOT AVAILABLE

Searching the web for an example I found a Nevada sign that said:
CAUTION
Road Not Regularly Maintained
Travel At Your Own Risk
Closed During Winter

It seems that the Excelsior Mine Road in Inyo County has a similar sign.. but I can't find a photo.

Unfortunately, such a sign probably wouldn't work to either discourage passage by the unprepared or to limit the county's legal/financial liability here in our great state.

PS- The chain isn't to block the road- rather to keep somebody from swiping the sign.

Thanks for the road info Doug.

Hopefully it's clear enough for most folks. It's always good to come to Lone Pine with a plan "B". I hear Death Valley is nice this time of year.

I guess it wasn't clear enough.

OK, I get it that the road is closed, and I get that some people have driven up the road despite the fact that it is closed. My question - where can one legally and safely leave an automobile if he is willing to walk an additional distance to reach the trailhead? Is parking allowed along side of the road before the 'road closed' sign?

Some people park at the sign but off the side of the road (if there is room) and some park at the bottom of the big switchback in a turnout. There's probably more accurate information out there.

Here's a photo looking down past the sign to the large turnout where it is completely legal to park while the sign is still up.

Of course, there isn't any snow on the road now.

Thanks James and Richard. Do you about how far and how steep a walk it is from the turnout to the trailhead?