Italian Bar Road

[Max Rockatansky]

Italian Bar Road is an approximately six-mile switchback highway located in the San Joaquin River Canyon of Fresno County.  Italian Bar Road begins at the southern rim of the San Joaquin River Canyon at Jose Basin Road and terminates to the northwest at the Italian Bar Bridge over Redinger Lake.

Italian Bar Road is named after a former mining claim which was staked on the San Joaquin River where Redinger Lake is now located.  The Fresno County side of Italian Bar Road was largely constructed concurrent with Million Dollar Road to access the site of Big Creek Powerhouse #8 in 1921.  The Fresno County roadway was connected with the Italian Bar mining road in Madera County circa 1925 when the Italian Bar Bridge was constructed over the San Joaquin River.  Before Madera County dropped roadway names after World War II the corridor of Italian Bar Road extended to Minarets Road near North Fork.

In 1951 the Italian Bar Bridge would be raised to accommodate the Redinger Lake reservoir.  The original Italian Bar Bridge was replaced by a modernized span which opened to traffic during May 2021.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2026/08/italian-bar-road-fresno-county.html?m=1