California State Route 140

State Route 140
SR 140 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Caltrans
Length	101.645 mi (163.582 km) SR 140 is broken into pieces, and the length does not reflect the overlaps that would be required to make the route continuous.
Tourist routes	SR 140 between Mariposa and El Portal
Major junctions
West end	I-5 near Gustine
Major intersections	SR 33 in Gustine SR 165 near Stevinson SR 59 / SR 99 in Merced SR 49 in Mariposa
East end	Yosemite National Park
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Counties	Merced, Mariposa
Highway system
State highways in California Interstate US State Scenic History Pre‑1964 Unconstructed Deleted Freeways
← SR 139 → SR 142

State Route 140 (SR 140) is an approximately 102-mile (164 km) state highway in the U.S. state of California. It begins in the San Joaquin Valley at Interstate 5 near Gustine, and runs east into the Sierra Nevada range, terminating in Yosemite National Park. Though maps and signs may show the highway extending east inside the park from its entrance to Yosemite Valley, this segment is federally maintained and is not included in the state route logs.

Route description

Ferguson Slide

A stretch west of El Portal

SR 140 between Midpines and Yosemite National Park

Eastbound SR 140 just east of Merced, California

Heading east from I-5, the highway passes Gustine; it then jogs to cross the San Joaquin River. It roughly marks the southern edge of the farmable land around Livingston. It intersects with State Route 99 in Merced, which it overlaps for a few miles. Travelers coming from most regions of the San Francisco Bay Area or other parts of Northern California to Yosemite Valley and the southern portion of Yosemite would transfer from Highway 99 to Highway 140 at this point. For those coming from San Jose and the rest of the Silicon Valley, the most direct, fastest route is State Route 152 east; then the roads of Road 9, Bliss Road, Sandy Mush Road, and Plainsburg Road to reach Highway 140 in Planada. (Those going to the northern portion of Yosemite would have instead taken either I-580 and I-205 leaving the Bay Area, then State Route 120 east through Manteca, or State Route 132 east through Modesto.)

After exiting Highway 99, Highway 140 continues through Planada, after which the farmland gives way to grazing land. It is quite dry in the summer due to California's Mediterranean climate, and the dry grass gives the landscape a golden color. Western meadowlarks, American kestrels, red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures are frequently glimpsed. A few blue oaks can be seen as the highway leaves the valley and begins to climb through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range. They become more and more numerous as the elevation increases. As the highway passes through Catheys Valley the vegetation begins to diversify a little. California live oaks and ponderosa pines intermingle with blue oaks as it nears the town of Mariposa. Traversing Mariposa, it runs concurrently with State Route 49 for about a mile.

A ponderosa pine forest borders the highway on both sides as it passes through Midpines. As it approaches Briceburg, the roadway follows a steep, winding grade down to the Merced River valley. The highway then runs alongside the Merced River for about 20 miles (32 km) to the Yosemite National Park entrance, after passing through El Portal. The upper stretch of the Merced River valley below the park, which the highway follows, is designated as Wild and Scenic River Area. The area separates Sierra National Forest (south) and Stanislaus National Forest (north).

Inside Yosemite, state routes are federally maintained and are not included in the state route logs, but the park may still sign these state routes at intersections. The highway continues into the park as El Portal Drive, following the Merced River to Yosemite Valley. The road intersects with Big Oak Flat Road, providing a connection to State Route 120. El Portal Drive then splits into a one way loop road to connect the rest of the valley, heading east as Southside Drive on the south side of the river and then looping back west as Northside Drive on the north side of the river. State Route 41/Wawona Road intersects with Southside Drive just east of the split.

SR 140 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. SR 140 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System; however, only the part of the road from Mariposa to El Portal is designated as a scenic highway.

History

Predecessor routes

Before a paved all-season road existed, automobile access to Yosemite Valley from the west required a two-day journey from Merced by stagecoach via Mariposa, on wagon roads impassable in winter. The Yosemite Valley Railroad (YVRR), which opened on May 15, 1907, provided the first practical year-round access to El Portal by running 78 miles along the north bank of the Merced River from Merced. The YVRR also built a connecting carriage road from El Portal into the park to compensate for the government's refusal to grant rail right-of-way inside Yosemite.

All-Year Highway

The All-Year Highway in the Merced River Canyon, photographed for the Historic American Engineering Record

The California Highway Commission began construction in 1924 of a paved highway from Merced through the Merced River canyon, largely using prison labor. The route ran along the south bank of the Merced River, opposite the YVRR's north-bank alignment, and used the canyon's low elevation to remain passable in winter.

The "All-Year Highway" (now State Route 140) opened on July 31, 1926, providing the first all-season automobile access to Yosemite. Visitor car counts to the park nearly doubled in the first year following the opening. The corridor had been designated as Legislative Route Number (LRN) 18 under California's First State Highway Bond Act of 1909, with the eastern extension to Yosemite added in 1916. SR 140 was first signed in 1934; the western extension to Interstate 5 near Gustine was incorporated in 1969.

Ferguson rock slide

Temporary bridge bypassing the Ferguson Slide, 2014

In June 2006, the Ferguson rock slide buried approximately 600 feet (180 m) of SR 140 between Cedar Lodge and the Briceburg Visitor Center, closing the road between El Portal and Mariposa. A one-lane detour using temporary bridges and traffic signals reopened the road in August 2006 and remained in use for nearly two decades.

Caltrans designed a 675 feet (206 m) rock shed to permanently restore the original alignment through the slide zone. Phase 1 (slope stabilization, removing 320,000 tons of talus and installing cable drapery) was completed in 2024 at a cost of $22.7 million. Phase 2 (rock shed construction) was fully funded at $387.56 million in June 2025, with construction scheduled to begin in summer 2025.

Ferguson Fire

The Ferguson Fire started on July 13, 2018, near Savage's Trading Post along SR 140 in the Merced River Canyon, forcing closure of SR 140 between Midpines and the Yosemite National Park entrance. The highway reopened on August 7, 2018; the fire burned 96,901 acres (39,214 ha) before full containment on August 19.

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. Postmile prefixes include: R reflecting a realignment in the route since then, M indicating a second realignment, L referring to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicating postmiles classified as temporary. Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Merced	​	0.00		Sullivan Road	Continuation beyond I-5
	​	0.00		I-5 (West Side Freeway) – Sacramento, Los Angeles	Interchange; west end of SR 140; I-5 exit 418
	Gustine	4.35		SR 33 south / Sullivan Road	West end of SR 33 overlap
		6.06		SR 33 north / First Avenue – Newman, Tracy	East end of SR 33 overlap
	​	16.22		SR 165 (Lander Avenue) – Stevinson, Hilmar, Turlock, Los Banos
	​	23.43		Lincoln Boulevard – Livingston
	​	29.47		Applegate Road – Atwater
	Merced	35.81 15.77		SR 99 north / SR 59 north (V Street) – Sacramento, Sonora	Interchange; west end of SR 99 / SR 59 overlap; SR 99 south exit 188
			West end of freeway on SR 99
		14.69	187B	SR 59 south (Martin Luther King Jr. Way) – Downtown Merced, Los Banos	East end of SR 59 overlap
		14.41	187A	G Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		13.86 35.82	East end of freeway on SR 99
				SR 99 south / 16th Street (SR 99 Bus. north) – Los Angeles	Interchange; east end of SR 99 overlap; SR 99 north exit 186B
		38.26		Campus Parkway Access to SR 99	Connects to Campus Parkway
	Planada	43.70		Plainsburg Road – Le Grand, Madera, Fresno
Mariposa	Catheys Valley	9.50		Hornitos Road – Hornitos
	Mariposa	21.22		SR 49 south – Oakhurst	West end of SR 49 overlap
		22.00		SR 49 north / Jones Street – Coulterville, Sonora	East end of SR 49 overlap
	Yosemite National Park	51.80	East end of state maintenance at western park boundary
		​	Arch Rock Entrance Station; park fee or pass required for entry
		​		Big Oak Flat Road to SR 120 (Tioga Road) – Manteca
		​		Northside Drive	Entrance only
		​		SR 41 south (Wawona Road) – Wawona, Fresno	Eastbound access only
		​		Southside Drive – Yosemite Valley Destinations	Continuation beyond SR 41; westbound entrance only accessible via Northside Drive
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access        Tolled

See also

• California Roads portal

External links

Template:Attached KML/California State Route 140

KML is from Wikidata

• Caltrans: State Route 140 highway conditions
• Caltrans Traffic Conditions Map
• California Highway Patrol Traffic Incidents
• California Highways — State Route 140
• California @ AARoads.com — State Route 140
• Ferguson Rock Shed Project at Caltrans District 10