Hites Cove Road and ghost town

[Max Rockatansky]

Last September I scouted out the trailhead for the OHV segment of Hites Cove Road.  This morning had perfect weather to make an attempt to reach the Hites Cove town site on the South Fork Merced River.  From the start of the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) segment Hites Cove Road drops from approximately 3,900 feet above sea level to about 1,750 feet within 2.13 miles. 

It is hard to fathom people once lived somewhere as remote as Hites Cove much less used Hites Cove Road as a public highway.  I'd speculate that the OHV portion of Hites Cove Road has the most hellacious descent of any roadway along the western extent of the Sierra Nevada range.  I don't own an OHV which meant the trip to Hites Cove was out and back on foot. 

Hites Cove Road is an approximately seven-mile rural highway corridor located in the Sierra Nevada range of Mariposa County.  As presently configured Hites Cove Road begins as a paved roadway at Double Eagle Road in the neighborhood of Mariposa Pines.  Hites Cove Road north of Mariposa Pines becomes Sierra National Forest Road 03S002 for approximately two miles and OHV trail 19E200 for another four miles to the town site of Hites Cove.

Hites Cove Road is named after the ghost town of Hites Cove.  This former community was the site of a mining strike by John Hite at the South Fork Merced River in 1861.  Hites Cove was a prominent Gold Rush era community in Mariposa County which eventually grew important enough to warrant a twenty-stamp mill.  John Hite petitioned the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors for the construction of Hites Cove Road in 1864.  Functionally the road to Hites Cove would be complete in 1866 when a footbridge was constructed over the South Fork Merced River.  The corridors of Darrah Road, Jerseydale Road and Scott Road were once part of the larger Hites Cove Road corridor. 

Hites Cove would remain an active mining community until the first decade of the twentieth century.  The town site was eventually abandoned and would later burn in 1924.  Despite Hites Cove now being comprised of largely mining wreckage the corridor of Hites Cove Road still remains accessible to vehicles.  The OHV portion carries sustained grades of 10-12% and terminates at the South Fork Merced River where a footbridge to Hites Cove was once located.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCN98y

[Max Rockatansky]

An assortment of selected photos from today.  This first batch is the northbound descent on Hites Cove Road between the OHV segment trailhead and the first switchback:

IMG_0248 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0261 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0264 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0273 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Looking back from the first switchback:

IMG_0279 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The view from the second switchback:

IMG_0291 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Approaching the end of the very steep northbound descent and recent retaining wall work:

IMG_0303 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0311 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Much of the lower part of Hites Cove Road is along the South Fork Merced River.  It only fords a single creek at Nutmeg Gulch:

IMG_0322 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr


IMG_0331 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Approaching the Hites Cove town site are 19th century-era retaining walls for roadway grades along both sides of the river.  I only found a single mine shaft along Hites Cove Road itself:

IMG_0341 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0342 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0343 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0354 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0364 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The Hites Cove town site still has numerous foundations, a cobblestone portion of Hites Cove Road, a ruined sawmill and stray cabling from the foot bridge:

IMG_0369 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0370 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0372 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0379 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0382 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0394 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0398 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0399 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0400 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_0401 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The only vehicle that I interacted with today was an ATV on the climb back up.

IMG_0426 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[Max Rockatansky]

Our Hites Cove Road blog published on the 25th.  These are the other two roads that were historically part of the same corridor but have since been renamed:

Jerseydale Road
https://www.gribblenation.org/2026/05/jerseydale-road-mariposa-county.html?m=1

Darrah Road
https://www.gribblenation.org/2026/05/darrah-road-mariposa-county.html?m=1

[Max Rockatansky]

Hites Cove Road is our blog feature today:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2026/05/hites-cove-road-and-hites-cove-ghost.html?m=1

The blog opening paragraph:

"Hites Cove Road is an approximately seven-mile rural highway corridor located in the Sierra Nevada range of Mariposa County.  As presently configured Hites Cove Road begins as a paved roadway at Double Eagle Road in the neighborhood of Mariposa Pines.  Hites Cove Road north of Mariposa Pines becomes Sierra National Forest Road 03S002 for approximately two miles and Off Highway Vehicle trail 19E200 for another four miles to the town site of Hites Cove.

Hites Cove Road is named after the ghost town of Hites Cove.  This former community was the site of a mining strike by John Hite at the South Fork Merced River in 1861.  Hites Cove was a prominent Gold Rush era community in Mariposa County which eventually grew important enough to warrant a twenty-stamp mill.  John Hite petitioned the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors for the construction of Hites Cove Road in 1864.  Functionally the road to Hites Cove would be complete in 1866 when a footbridge was constructed over the South Fork Merced River.  The corridors of Darrah Road, Jerseydale Road and Scott Road were once part of the larger Hites Cove Road corridor. 

Hites Cove would remain an active mining community until the first decade of the twentieth century.  The town site was eventually abandoned and would later burn in 1924.  Despite Hites Cove now being comprised of largely mining wreckage the corridor of Hites Cove Road still remains accessible to vehicles.  The Off Highway Vehicle portion carries sustained grades of 10-12% and terminates at the South Fork Merced River where a footbridge to Hites Cove was once located."

The other two roads which were once part of the Hites Cove Road corridor:

Jerseydale Road
https://www.gribblenation.org/2026/05/jerseydale-road-mariposa-county.html?m=1

Darrah Road
https://www.gribblenation.org/2026/05/darrah-road-mariposa-county.html?m=1