Foresta Road

[Max Rockatansky]

Today's hike was on the abandoned segment of Foresta Road from the Old Coulterville Road in Foresta of Yosemite National Park towards El Portal in the Merced River Canyon.  Foresta Road between Foresta and El Portal traditionally has been known as the Davis Cutoff Road.  The Davis Cutoff Road first appears on the 1923 USGS map of the Yosemite area as a replacement for a trail between James McCauley's Ranch at Big Meadow to El Portal.  The Davis Cutoff Road was built over four bridges, two over Crane Creek (Foresta Falls) and another two over Little Crane Creek.  It is unclear when the Davis Cutoff Road came to be known as Foresta Road.

During 1990 the A-Rock Fire damaged the area around Foresta and Foresta Road.  In 2009 the Big Meadow Fire caused further damage and destroyed the wooden deck of the bridge on Foresta Road over lower Foresta Falls.  Since 2009 Foresta Road south of Lyell Way in Foresta to Granite Road in El Portal has been closed to traffic.  Over the past decade significant rockfall and overgrowth as begun to overtake the closed portion of Foresta Road.

Pictured is the following:

Photo 1:  The closure signage on Foresta Road approaching Lyell Way in Foresta.

IMG_6170 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 2:  The partially burned signage on the closed portion of Foresta Road denoting the boundary of the McCauley Ranch addition to Yosemite National Park. 

IMG_6186 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 3:  The bridge over upper Foresta Falls on Crane Creek.  Notably this steel stringer bridge has a heavily eroding concrete deck. 

IMG_6202 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 4:  A closure gate on Foresta Road approaching the rim of the Merced River Canyon. 

IMG_6227 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 5:  The inward bend of Foresta Road from the Merced River Canyon back towards Crane Creek and Little Crane Creek.

IMG_6244 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 6:  The partially destroyed steel stringer bridge on Foresta Road over lower Foresta Falls.  There is a road and 2x4s present to permit hikers and cyclists to cross the destroyed wooden road deck.  I found it easier to cross under the bridge given the flow of Foresta Falls was low. 

IMG_6258 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 7:  The view on Foresta Road facing the first Little Crane Creek Bridge.

IMG_6276 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 8:  A view north on Foresta Road towards the Little Crane Bridge and falls. 

IMG_6286 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 9:  A Library of Congress photo of the bridge over Little Crane Creek facing south from the falls.

4. VIEW OF FORESTA ROAD (OLD DAVIS CUT-OFF ROAD) AND STONE CULVERT AT LITTLE CRANE CREEK. LOOKING S. by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 10:  A Library of Congress photo of the bridge over lower Foresta Falls when the road deck was intact. 

5. VIEW OF CRANE FALLS BRIDGE. LOOKING N. by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Photo 11:  A Library of Congress photo of the bridge over upper Foresta Falls. 

6. VIEW OF FORESTA FALLS BRIDGE NEAR FORESTA. LOOKING SE. by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The 1923 USGS Map I referenced above which shows the Davis Cutoff Road contrasted with the Big Meadow Trail can be seen here:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~231646~5508982:Yosemite%2C-Calif-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:mariposa%20county;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=46&trs=55

Really this was a pretty badass hike, it is hard to envision anyone actually using Foresta Road in a car now.  My full album can be found here:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAaZ3v

[Max Rockatansky]

Foresta Road is an approximately nine-mile roadway which connects the Old Coulterville Road in the community of Foresta in Yosemite National Park to California State Route 140 in El Portal on the Merced River.  Foresta Road originally opened during 1913 as lumber haul road from Foresta to the eastern terminus of the Yosemite Valley Railroad in El Portal.  From Foresta the alignment of Foresta Road is notable for the approximately 2,300-foot elevation drop it descends through over the course of six miles towards El Portal in the Merced River Canyon.  Much of Foresta Road was abandoned after the 2009 Big Meadow Fire destroyed the wooden deck of the Lower Foresta Falls Bridge.  Since 2009 Foresta Road has largely been abandoned and is beginning to erode into the Merced River Canyon.  Pictured as the blog cover is the partially destroyed Lower Foresta Falls Bridge.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2022/10/abandoned-foresta-road-between-foresta.html?m=1