Skip to main content

California State Route 146 East

Last June I visited the eastern district of Pinnacles National Park to investigate some oddities I saw in the eastern segment of California State Route 146 and to get some hikes in.






I noticed reviewing some older Park Service Maps that the end point for CA 146 East was at the former boundary of Pinnacles National Monument before it was expanded to a National Park in 2013.  Pinnacles National Park encompassed some of the area that had previously been outside the National Monument.  The result was that CA 146 is actually a state maintained roadway within Pinnacles National Park.  The difference between Pinnacles National Monument and Pinnacles National Park can be observed on these two maps.

Pinnacles National Monument Map

Pinnacles National Park Map

CA 146 East is only 2.45 miles and begins at CA 25.  Surprisingly CA 146 East is signed very well with shields and mileage paddles.





There isn't much to CA 146 East.  The road essentially just follows Sandy Creek to the Pinnacles National Park entrance station which used to be the boundary for Pinnacles National Monument.  Odd that such a short route would have received an "end" placard in such a remote place.









Supposedly there was never any formal plans to connect CA 146 or it's precursor Legislative Route Number 120.  Interestingly the 1935 California Division of Highways map of San Benito County shows state maintenance well into Pinnacles National Monument up to the Bear Gulch Reservoir.

1935 San Benito County Highway Map

The maintenance up to the Bear Gulch is important since it seems that the mileage for CA 146 as a full route seems to be based on the assumption of a through route would go through there.  I think Daniel from CAhighways.org explained what I'm getting at better than how I worded it back on AAroads last year:

"A 1934 Division of Highways Map shows the eastern segment of LRN 120 (Route 146) running west from Route 25 into Pinnacles National Monument past the current terminus about a mile to Bear Gulch. The Bear Gulch Road is pretty much a straight to the western LRN 120 (Route 146) which makes it likely that this is what the post number gap is based off of. That means,if the map is correct, there was for a time a less than 2 mile gap between both segments of LRN 120 (Route 146). The state maps are too zoomed out really to provide any insight onto when the eastern segment of Route 120 might have been pulled back to the boundary with Pinnacles National Monument where the current Route 146 terminus is located. Route 146 in East Pinnacles still retains the same length that it had when it was a National Monument; this is because when the Monument was expanded to a Park, the boundary was expanded. That left Route 146 East maintained by Caltrans within the new National Park Boundary. From the west on Route 146 the highway segment is only 2.45 miles. Despite no reassurance markers westbound there is a Route 146 END sign at the former boundary for Pinnacles National Monument. The Eastern Segment of Route 146 has mileage markers ranging from 12.70 to 15.15. Essentially it is a straight line from the terminus of the western segment across the Pinnacles which ends at 10.19."

For further reference the page for CA 146 on CAhighways.org can be found here.

CAhighways.org on CA 146

So essentially the road ahead to the Bear Gulch Parking area in these photos was once part of LRN 120.




Of course who would go to Pinnacles National Park and not get some hiking in?   I did some trail running up the Condor Gulch and High Peaks Trails.











 





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains

US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico passes through the Guadalupe Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise the highest peaks of Texas which are largely protected as part Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The automotive highway through the Guadalupe Mountains was constructed in the late 1920s as part of Texas State Road 54.  US Route 62 was extended from Carlsbad through the Guadalupe Mountains to El Paso during 1932.  US Route 62 was joined in the Guadalupe Mountains by US Route 180 in 1943.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise a portion of the 130 mile "No Services" zone on US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso-Carlsbad. Part 1; the history of US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains lie within the states of Texas and New Mexico.  The Guadalupe Mountains essentially is a southern extension of the larger Rocky Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains is the highest range in Texas with the peak elevati

Former California State Route 215

  California State Route 215 was a short-lived state highway which existed in the Los Angeles Metropolitain area after the 1964 State Highway Renumbering.  California State Route 215 was aligned from US Route 60 at 5th Street in Pomona north to US Route 66 near Claremont via Garey Avenue.  California State Route 215 came to be after California State Route 71 was bisected in Pomona due to relinquishment of a portion of Garey Avenue due to the opening of a portion of the Corona Freeway (now Chino Valley Freeway) during 1958.  California State Route 215 was deleted by the Legislature during 1965. The history of California State Route 215 The initial segment of what was to become California State Route 215 was added to the State Highway System as part of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act.  The First State Highway Bond Act defined what would become  Legislative Route Number 19  (LRN 19) as running from Claremont to Riverside.  The segment of LRN 19 between Claremont and Pomona would in

Paper Highways; unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz

This edition of Paper Highways examines the unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz. The History of Unbuilt California State Route 100 The route that became CA 100 was added to the State Inventory in 1959 as part of the Freeway & Expressway System as Legislative Route 287 .  According to CAhighways.org the initial definition of LRN 287 had it begin at LRN 5 (CA 17) and was defined over the below alignment to LRN 56 (CA 1) through downtown Santa Cruz. -  Ocean Street -  2nd Street -  Chestnut Street For context the above alignment would required tearing down a large part of the densely populated Santa Cruz.  A modern Google imagine immediately reveals how crazy an alignment following Ocean Street, 2nd Street, and Chestnut Street would have been. LRN 287 first appears on the 1960 Division of Highways State Map . In 1961 the definition of LRN 287 was generalized to; from LRN 5 via the beach area in Santa Cruz to LRN 56 west of the San Lorenzo River.