117 Mile Sierra Highway Loop; CA 198, Generals Highway, CA 180, and CA 245

[Max Rockatansky]

Took a little scenic mountain drive today before the winter storm hitting the Sierras rolls in tonight.  Basically took a 117 mile loop of; CA 198, the Generals Highway through Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, CA 180, and all of CA 245.  I've pretty much covered all these routes before in topics I've posted so I'll link over the albums and add some of my thoughts/observations:


CA 198:  https://www.flickr.com/gp/151828809@N08/M1Y2z1

-  I noticed what is likely an old section of CA 198 east of the Terminus Dam above the water line.  The road deck is partially eroded into Lake Kaweah and it can be seen in my pictures of the Terminus Dam.

-  I snagged some pictures of the Salt Creek Bridge where 198 has an "END" placard for trucks and the Pumpkin Hollow Bridge, both are designs from the 1920s before the Generals Highway was complete.

-  The eastern terminus of CA 198 has a new "END" placcard to replace the one that disappeared between 2009 to 2012.  The placard is brand new and wasn't present in 2016:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.4814822,-118.8381292,3a,75y,354.71h,77.18t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sh2GnyqkpEZu3gLeElC4JSw!2e0!5s20160601T000000!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en


The Generals Highway from Sequoia National Park to Kings Canyon National Park:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/151828809@N08/2x3S31

-  There was hardly anyone entering from Sequoia National Park, I've never seem the Generals Highway or the trail to the Sherman Tree so dead.  There was snow starting at 5,500 feet and it got pretty thick on the sides of the highway above 7,000, there is certainly a much higher volume than April last year.  Surprisingly there wasn't much in the way of rockfall that I could see which was certainly not the case compared to last year.  CA 180 is still closed east of Hume Lake Road, so I'll have to come back maybe in a month to get to the bottom of Kings Canyon.


CA 245:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskStZ6K8

-  From CA 180 south to about 3,000 feet above sea level 245 was in rough shape.  There was a couple slide repairs above 5,000 feet and several gravel patches on the shoulders.  There was a large tree removal operation underway just north of Badger which made things extra smoggy.

-  I did get some decent pics of the junction with old SSR 63 at Boyd Drive and the 1923 Cottonwood Creek Bridge in Auckland.  There was a really nice plaque on the Cottonwood Creek bridge that seems to have stood through the past century pretty well.  I'll probably do another post on the history of CA 65, CA 69, and CA 245 just because I find it interesting.

-  Speaking of 245 and interesting, it might be high time to actually count how many curves the road has.  I would speculate that the north of Woodlake there is probably somewhere north of 300 curves, the roadway is hardly ever straight.


Here is a link on Google Maps of the exact routing of my loop today:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Yokohl,+CA/Lodgepole+Visitor+Center,+Tulare+County,+CA/Badger,+CA/Yokohl,+CA/@36.4654006,-119.065041,11z/data=!4m41!4m40!1m5!1m1!1s0x809536656ad19f55:0x9f2a4bbfbb1ce02!2m2!1d-119.0823272!2d36.3255055!1m5!1m1!1s0x80955ef81ea13bd1:0x461fa699584f731!2m2!1d-118.7319704!2d36.6042534!1m20!1m1!1s0x80956b6d17bd97ef:0x135e3067feaa0283!2m2!1d-119.0133462!2d36.6310707!3m4!1m2!1d-119.1245907!2d36.5446687!3s0x809515f1c5ef1da7:0x3cb161eb45ab96eb!3m4!1m2!1d-119.098847!2d36.4282377!3s0x809539076d8518c1:0x7ea34b29ce4866d6!3m4!1m2!1d-119.1164792!2d36.3465898!3s0x80953721e7cf0c79:0x51eac0d0c055734d!1m5!1m1!1s0x809536656ad19f55:0x9f2a4bbfbb1ce02!2m2!1d-119.0823272!2d36.3255055!3e0?hl=en

Edit:  I'm counting about 200 curves for the entire routing of CA 245.  Basically I'm counting off of curves that change the direction of travel, most of them are north of Boyd Drive.

[Max Rockatansky]

Okay...back story on CA 245, the modern alignment has actually carried four different state highway designations over the years.  Basically CA 245 was originally part of SSR 65 back in 1934 and terminated at SSR 180 which used Dunlap Road at the time.  Basically it all makes sense given the modern north terminus of the southern segment of CA 65 terminates about a mile west of the modern south terminus of 245.  From this view heading left on CA 245 would have been the southbound start of SSR 65 and SSR 180 would have continued west on Dunlap Road on the right:

IMG_5829 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

At some point between 1940 and 1942 SSR 180 was moved to modern alignment CA 180 takes on the Kings Canyon Highway and SSR 65 was extended north to where the modern northern terminus of CA 245 is now.  The routing for SSR 180 on Dunlap Road and the eventual changes I described can be seen on these maps:

1935 Fresno County Road Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~247281~5515351:Fresno-County-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=29&trs=160

1938 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239588~5511892:Road-Map-of-the-State-of-California?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=69&trs=86

1940 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239585~5511890:Road-Map-of-the-State-of-California?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=67&trs=86

1942 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239582~5511888:Road-Map-of-the-State-of-California?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=65&trs=86


In 1964 SSR 65 north of SSR 198 was renumbered to CA 69 as part of the highway renumbering.  Basically this is where the second CA 65 comes from as there was a far reaching plan to have the highway extended to run east of CA 99.  Apparently the signage change didn't take effect until 1965 for either 65 and 69.  The changes can be seen on the following maps:

1963 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239528~5511852:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1963?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=97&trs=160

1964 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239525~5511850:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1964?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=95&trs=160

1965 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239522~5511848:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1965?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=93&trs=160


According to rumor and conjecture the reason CA 69 was reassigned as CA 245 was due to sign theft.  Sparker actually had a pretty substantial story about the rumors of sign theft on CA 69:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=17893.msg2155550#msg2155550

Which really is a compelling enough story that is even on cahighways:

http://www.cahighways.org/065-072.html

The above article states that the legislative definition of CA 69 was changed to CA 245 in 1972.  The only maps from the time period that I've been able to find would be from 1970 and 1975:

1970 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239509~5511840:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1970?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=17&trs=86

1975 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239506~5511838:California-State-Highways,-December?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=15&trs=86

Essentially the routing that 245 takes today really is exactly the same as all the previous alignments of SSR 65, CA 69, and SSR 180.  There is even 45 and 90 degree turns in the alignment that haven't been smoothed out through the farm land.  When I was on Boyd Drive checking out old SSR 63 I wanted to stop at the Cottonwood Creek Bridge which did in fact have a plaque showing a completion date of 1923:

IMG_5854 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_5855 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr


But speaking of observations I made in the first post, why not post some of the photos of the old SSR 198 alignment I think that I found along with the two bridges from the 1920s?  First off, this old roadway at the foot of the Terminus Dam is what I suspect to be the original alignment of 198:

IMG_5599 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The Salt Creek Bridge and the "END" Truck Route placard:

IMG_5606 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_5608 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The Pumpkin Hollow Bridge with some nice historic signage:

IMG_5611 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_5612 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

And the new "End" placard for the eastern CA 198 terminus at Sequoia National Park:

IMG_5615 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

   

[Max Rockatansky]

Something that I've been trying to wrap my mind around in regards to the Generals Highway is what was the exact alignment of that was used via Middle Fork Road prior to 1935.  Essentially before the Generals Highway was completed in 1935 traffic would have to take the Colony Mill Road one-way up to the Giant Forest.  The Colony Mill Road essentially consists of what is now North Fork Road, the Colony Mill Trail, and the Crystal Cave Road.  I already touched on this topic in another thread so I'll just link it here so I won't repeat myself:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18518.msg2164274#msg2164274

   There is some maps that suggest the routing of Middle Fork Road was very different and didn't include the much of the major switch backs the Generals Highway uses between Hospital Rock and Amphitheater Point.  First starting with the 1919 Tulare County Road Map it is clear that the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park is only accessible via use the Colony Mill Road:

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/839403/Tulare+County+1919+Map/Tulare+County+1919+-+Automobile+Road+Map/California/

   According to NPS.gov an early wagon version of Middle Fork Road was built past Hospital Rock to Moro Creek by 1913.  The site also states that Middle Creek Road was rebuilt from 1921 to 1926 by Tulare County to the Sequoia National Park boundary which is where the Salt Creek and Pumpkin Hollow Bridges would have come from in 1922:

4 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

5 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

   But given the improvements to Middle Fork Road it would seem the Park Service shifted Colony Mill Road to a one-way climb to the Giant Forest and the former road as a one-way downhill routing.  I believe this 1935 California Divisions of Highways Map of Tulare County shows the downhill route of Middle Fork Road that was used from apparently 1926 to when the Generals Highway opened in the summer of 1935:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~247377~5515399:Tulare-County-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=75&trs=160

   Basically it looks like Middle Fork Road would have used the same alignment of the Generals Highway from Hospital Rock but continued east to Moro Creek instead of using the modern switch back alignment.   It would seem that there was an elongated route that crossed Moro Creek several times before popping out at Granite Springs somewhere north of Amphitheater Point.  I can't find an exact routing that is obvious from satellite but here is the location where Middle Fork Road would have crossed Moro Creek:




   So essentially I can't find the old alignment of Middle Fork Road via satelite view but I believe it can be seen in one of my pictures from Amphitheater Point as highlighted here:



Followed by an unaltered pic where there is a line that can be seen which I believe is the cut of Middle Creek Road:

IMG_5667 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

If I'm right that was one hell of a huge grade from Moro Creek to Granite Spring, no wonder it was single lane down hill only!   Anyways, I thought that was exciting to actually possibly have found some super obscure old roadway alignment that largely has been forgotten by time.  I just wish the NPS would be a little bit more inclusive in regards to showing actual alignments of roadways prior to major construction projects.  I would love to see a map alignment for something like the Knife Edge Road in Mesa Verde or even the Wawona Road in Yosemite before the Wawona Tunnel was built.

[hm insulators]

I can't believe how green the landscape is in California!

Decades ago, I took more or less that same route.

Thanks for the beautiful pictures!

[Max Rockatansky]

I can't believe how green the landscape is in California!

Decades ago, I took more or less that same route.

Thanks for the beautiful pictures!

This winter really helped green things up.  Most of my albums from this year are from roads I've traveled on extensively but almost always looked like desert from the drought.  I've been talking to the curator for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks about the Generals Highway.  I'm hoping they have some maps of Colony Mill and Middle Fork road between that gap from 1919 to 1935.  I should know more the week after Easter possibly.

[pderocco]

-  I noticed what is likely an old section of CA 198 east of the Terminus Dam above the water line.  The road deck is partially eroded into Lake Kaweah and it can be seen in my pictures of the Terminus Dam.

In the Google Earth imagery from Feb 2014, you can see most of the old alignment along the south side of the lake. It looks like much of it was reachable by car at the time. The same thing happened in Lake Isabella, and I was able to drive a mile or so of the old CA-178 that hadn't been exposed probably since 1988, or perhaps even 1977.

[Max Rockatansky]

-  I noticed what is likely an old section of CA 198 east of the Terminus Dam above the water line.  The road deck is partially eroded into Lake Kaweah and it can be seen in my pictures of the Terminus Dam.

In the Google Earth imagery from Feb 2014, you can see most of the old alignment along the south side of the lake. It looks like much of it was reachable by car at the time. The same thing happened in Lake Isabella, and I was able to drive a mile or so of the old CA-178 that hadn't been exposed probably since 1988, or perhaps even 1977.

I'm assuming it is this piece?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lake+Kaweah/@36.3990679,-118.9868894,290m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x809548b9bc0569d3:0xebe22cfb4c019676!8m2!3d36.40363!4d-118.9790625?hl=en

Now you got me wondering about Old Kernville.  I just happened to stop in at the old town site last year since it was long above water:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskUvCQqq

The nice thing with Lake Isabella is that the Auxiliary Dam is damaged and the lake level is usually well below capacity which makes exploration of ruins much easier.  I'm not sure what is up with Lake Kaweah though, the water level doesn't seem to have bounced back like some of the other reservoirs have this winter.

[Max Rockatansky]

I spoke the curator for Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park this morning over the phone.  So essentially the path the Generals Highway uses south from the Crystal Cave Road is the same as it always was when it opened in 1926.  The cars visiting the Giant Forest would climb the Colony Mill Road and would use the Middle Fork Road (which is now the Generals Highway) to descend back down to the Kaweah River.  Really the roadway of the Generals Highway essentially isn't very much different than it was in 1935 when it was fully paved and opened between all the way from the Sherman Tree to Grant Grove.  Really the only major change to the Generals Highway in recent history would have been the 2012 widening of the current roadway.

Apparently there was once a proposal that was taken pretty seriously to build a road from Hospital Rock east to Bearpaw Meadow along the Kaweah River.  Apparently there was to be one large switchback that would have gone back west towards Moro Rock and the Giant Forest.  I'm to understand the plan was quashed by the Park Superintendent due to walking trails being built instead.  I'm to also understand that the Park Service rotates maintenance on the Generals Highway in twenty year cycles by taking a small section at a time to repave and patch. 

Anyways....I'll likely be back tomorrow since the road to Moro Rock opened and usually CA 180 opens all the way to Kings Canyon.  If the latter rings true I'll probably go the Confluence Overlook at minimum and get some pictures of the switchbacks on the Generals Highway from Moro Rock.

[Max Rockatansky]

Moro Rock had a surprise early opening this week...odd considering the winter California had.  That being the case I figured that if there was a chance of a Federal shut down then it was worth the time to do a climb and get some pictures.  Managed some decent pictures of the Generals Highway from the top of Moro Rock.

First a wide view with the Great Western Divide on the left, the Kaweah River in the just to the right of off-center, and the Generals Highway on the right:

IMG_6284 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Zoom-in of the switch-backs on below looking at Amphitheater View:

IMG_6285H by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Further look downhill into the Kaweah River Canyon towards the end of the Generals Highway where CA 198 begins:

IMG_6285G by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Zooming out Lake Kaweah can be seen off in the distance:

IMG_6233B by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Further down the Generals Highway looking back up at Moro Rock:

IMG_6233B by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Along with some additional views of the switch-backs at Amphitheater View:

IMG_6204B by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_6204C by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Some other interesting finds today would be on Crescent Meadow Road with a nice view through redwoods toward the sun, a Tunnel Log, and even an old Richfield Station back on CA 198 in Lemon Cove:

IMG_6225 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_6312 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_6159 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I took a bunch of highway pictures from Three Rivers up to CA 180 in Grant Grove.  Really it is more of the same as before but looked less winter like, the album is here;

https://www.flickr.com/gp/151828809@N08/8HahRY


Also on the way out of the mountains today I went down CA 245 and Dunlap Road instead of taking CA 180 directly.  I didn't have an album of the original alignment of 180 that I mentioned earlier in the thread.  Really Dunlap Road is pretty tame all things considered, I just wouldn't want to drive tourist traffic in a substantial amount up it.  I would argue it is higher quality road than the entirety of CA 245.  Really nothing special but it is kind of neat because you can see modern CA 180 when Dunlap Road runs along cliff-faces.  The album is located here in case anyone is interested:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskVAtnNT