Cherry Lake Road (Stanislaus National Forest)

[Max Rockatansky]

I finished up writing up something for our page on Cherry Lake Road today.  The blog I wrote won't hit until December 25th, but I thought Cherry Lake Road was notable to bring up as a subject now (I save significant blogs usually for holidays).  This particular road has a lot of infrastructure stuff going on which is all connected to the Hetch Hetchy Project.  This was he blog introduction I wrote which briefs the history of the road corridor:

"Cherry Lake Road is one of the primary access highways through Stanislaus National Forest in the Sierra Nevada range of Tuolumne County.  Cherry Lake Road begins at California State Route 120 near the Rainbow Pool Day Use Area and winds through the National Forest approximately 23.8 miles to the Cherry Lake Reservoir. 

Cherry Lake Road is historically linked to the Hetch Hetchy Project.  The original portion of what is now Cherry Lake Road was constructed north from the Big Oak Flat Road (now California State Route 120) near the South Fork Tuolumne River to Kelly Flat circa 1916-1917.  The purpose of building a road to Kelly Flat was due to construction of the Lower Cherry Aqueduct.  Said aqueduct funneled water from Lake Eleanor via Cherry Creek to the Early Intake Powerhouse at the Middle Fork Tuolumne River.  The Early Intake Powerhouse came online during 1918 and was used to power nighttime construction at O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley. 

During the 1950s the city of San Francisco and Turlock Irrigation District reached an agreement to expand the Hetch Hetchy Project via the construction of Cherry Lake Dam.  Construction of Cherry Lake Dam required what is now Cherry Lake Road to be extended from Kelly Flat to Cherry Valley.  The 315-foot-high earthen dam was dedicated in 1955.  The roadway atop Cherry Lake Dam replaced the winding Lake Eleanor Road above Hetch Hetchy as the primary means of accessing Eleanor Lake. 

Following the completion of Cherry Lake Dam a tunnel was built from the Cherry Lake reservoir to the site of Holm Powerhouse at Kelly Flat.  Holm Powerhouse became active in 1960 which led to the Lower Cherry Aqueduct being shutter.  Despite being largely filled in with dirt much of the Lower Cherry Aqueduct remains a major feature easily observed from the southern extent of Cherry Lake Road.

In 1962 Cherry Lake Road was extended over a portion of the original Big Oak Flat Road at the Rainbow Pool Day Use Area.  This realignment occurred when the Division of Highways constructed a new bridge over the South Fork Tuolumne River to carry California State Route 120.  In 1967 the Early Intake Powerhouse at the Middle Fork Tuolumne River would be replaced with the Kirkwood Powerhouse."

Below is a link to my Cherry Lake Road photo album on Flickr.  The pavement is surprisingly good shape for a Forest Service Road, and I would think this would be a great trip during cooler seasons.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCWDPS

[pderocco]

That looks really nice. Was that an out-and-back trip, or did you find a route up to 108?

[Max Rockatansky]

That looks really nice. Was that an out-and-back trip, or did you find a route up to 108?

Cottonwood Road begins at Cherry Lake and tracks westward to the vicinity of Tuolumne.  The entirety of Cottonwood Road is two lanes and follows the North Fork Tuolumne River for a bit.  From Tuolumne you'll end up getting to 108 pretty easily following County Route E17.