Background
In the winter of 2022/2023, California experienced weather like we had not seen in decades. Several atmospheric rivers dumped snow and rain in repeated storms back to back. This caused flooding, rock slides, mudslides, and road erosion in many areas of California.
Highway 180, which leads to Boyden Cavern, is traditionally closed each winter at the gate near the Hume Lake turnoff, approximately 13 miles west of the cavern. Our state highway department, CalTrans, manages this section of the road. They typically will evaluate the road throughout the winter as conditions allow, attempting to maintain at least one lane of access that is clear from fallen rocks and snow. This winter, they could not evaluate the road until much later in the spring due to the amount of snow and the obligations that CalTrans had on other sections of the highway that were temporarily closed due to rock slides. When CalTrans was able to attempt to access the highway past the Hume Lake gate, they discovered many areas of rock slides and road erosion where washouts compromised the stability of the road or even wholly washed it away. Within 2 miles of Boyden Cavern, one section is down to ½ lane in a section that is usually two lanes.
If the situation were isolated to Highway 180 approaching Boyden Cavern, repairs might be able to be completed earlier. However, there are many similar situations throughout California that need extensive repairs. Due to these situations, all resources are scarce: funds, gravel, workers, and engineers. Highway 180 in this area has no permanent residents and, as a result, is lower on the priority list.
Due to this situation, Boyden Cavern announced that there would be no 2023 season and refunded any tickets previously purchased. We will follow repair work closely and hope to have an update for the expected reopening in 2024. We would typically reopen on May 1, 2024, and hope to be able to do so if repairs are completed in time. Of course, we must get through another winter and have our fingers crossed for a healthy balance of needed snow packs without the damage-causing storms we had this past winter.