Ben Hur Road/Road 613 to Raymond

[Max Rockatansky]

Recently I decided on an alternate road home from Mariposa and took Ben Hur Road/Road 613 from CA 49 to Raymond.  On the Mariposa County side Ben Hur Road twists through the Sierra Nevada Mountains passing through the ghost town of Ben Hur.  The grade of Ben Hur Road has a pretty steep and twisty descent to the Madera County Line where it becomes Road 613.  Road 613 was once known as Green Mountain Road and generally takes a southeasterly direction past the Chowchilla River into Raymond.  I found an older abandoned bridge at the Chowchilla River but I haven't been able to confirm it's vintage.  Raymond is an interesting place in that while it isn't quite a total ghost town it is largely past it's prime when it was the terminus of the San Joaquin and Yosemite Railroad.  Raymond was founded as Wild Cat Station in 1886 and soon became a popular stage head for travelers headed to the Wawona Road in Yosemite.  The San Joaquin and Yosemite Railroad was shuttered in 1946 but the grade is still very apparent along side Road 600.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/06/ghost-town-tuesday-ben-hur-roadroad-613.html

[ARMOURERERIC]

Was the speed limit "ramming"

[Max Rockatansky]

Was the speed limit "ramming"

Beyond that "end 25 MPH"  I don't recall even seeing one.  Usually mountain roads like that are anything goes (default 55 MPH) when they aren't signed in California.  I'm to understand that the novel inspired the name of a local horse who in turn inspired the name of the ghost town which in turn inspired the name of the road.