Old CA 188 on Fallen Leaf Lake Road

[Max Rockatansky]

Put something together as a standalone blog on the first CA 188 which was aligned on Fallen Leaf Lake Road:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2022/05/former-california-state-route-188-on.html

[transgerman_]

If I remember correctly, Caltrans officials literally forgot the highway even existed, and they deleted it once they found out what Route 188 actually was. Kinda funny how there can be a highway so useless that even the agency responsible for maintaining it forgot it existed.

[Max Rockatansky]

I mean hey, it was mentioned twice in the 1924-67 run of California Highways & Public Works.  That's still one better than CA 194 north of Downieville ever got.

[pderocco]

At least Fallen Leaf Road is now paved. Was CA-194 always dirt, or was it depaved at some point?

[Max Rockatansky]

194 was never paved.  I'm not even sure if it was ever even graded.

[thsftw]

At least Fallen Leaf Road is now paved. Was CA-194 always dirt, or was it depaved at some point?

Paved is not the most accurate term for what Fallen Leaf Road is now, the amount of potholes make 2wd cars not the best idea on it.

[Max Rockatansky]

No worse than the typical paved San Benito County road.  I thought it was fine given it more or less is the condition I've come to expect from roads in National Forests.  High clearance and more than 2WD is definitely overkill.

[Mark68]

I've driven to Fallen Leaf Lake on this road (2019 Honda HR-V AWD). It's rough but doable (I believe) with 2WD.

FWIW, the lake is absolutely gorgeous.