A cool breeze moves through forest, meadows and granite. Although its voice is still a whisper, the message is clear: Winter is coming. Gather memories while you can.

Massive slopes force motorists to follow a fine line as Tioga Road outside of Yosemite National Park descends to Lee Vining. Eric Paul Zamora / The Fresno Bee

No wonder those who love Yosemite's spectacular high country grow wistful this time of year. In a few weeks, snow will close Tioga Road, shutting off a special region of the Sierra to all but the most hardy of winter adventurers. It's enough to make hearts restless — and eager to make one more trip across the mountains on what many consider California's most scenic trans-Sierra route.

Some Yosemite-lovers will tell you fall is the best time to travel Tioga Road. Summer crowds are thinning out and deciduous trees are staging a colorful show on the eastern slope of the Sierra.

But whether you travel in spring, when meadows are lush with wildflowers, or venture out when aspens are turning gold in October, the road leaves unforgettable impressions.

"I've known so many people who identify with the road," says Gene Rose, a former Fresno Bee reporter and author of "Tioga Country," a history of the road that will be published by the Yosemite Association this fall. "For many of them, it is the highway to their spiritual home, a road of great beauty and diversity."

Despite veneration from veteran travelers, Tioga Road often is overlooked by park visitors drawn to the beauty of Yosemite Valley and the spectacular views from Glacier Point. This year, about 3.4 million people will have visited the park, but only 270,000, or about 8%, will have traveled over Tioga Pass.

The 56-mile two-lane road is three hours from Fresno and can be traveled nonstop in about 90 minutes. It follows the route of Highway 120 from Crane Flat, near the western edge of Yosemite National Park, to Lee Vining, 10 miles beyond the park's eastern entrance at Tioga Pass. It began as a wagon trail, built in the early 1880s to serve mining interests near Tioga Pass, and was improved and opened to automobiles in 1915. Eventually, it was transformed into a modern highway through a number of paving and realignment projects begun in the early 1930s and completed with the modernization of the stretch down Lee Vining Canyon from 1963 to 1967.

Tioga Pass, at 9,945 feet, is the highest trans-Sierra vehicle crossing in California.

"In my book, there's no more popular pass for those who enjoy scenery," Rose says. "No other passes are in the same league with Tioga. I had the good fortune of talking to Ansel Adams one time, and he told me the photographic and artistic opportunities along the Tioga Road corridor are unlimited."

Even winter snow, which forces the road to close for seven to eight months every year, contributes to the mystique. "When access is denied," says Rose, "it increases the interest and passion for the road."

More Tioga Road Stories:

Lee Vining's Lifeblood
Cut Off at Tioga Pass
Wildlife Warning
Fueling Up at Crane Flat
Lee Vining Canyon: Uphill and Downhill Struggle
Olmsted Point: Beauty and Danger
Tuolumne Meadows: Margaret's Meadows