La Paloma Road is a 13.1-mile rural dirt highway located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Merced County and Mariposa County. Said corridor begins at Snelling Road near Merced and extends east to Hornitos Road (County Route J16) in Mariposa County. La Paloma Road was surveyed by Mariposa County in 1872 as a direct highway linking Hornitos to the then new Merced County seat of Merced. The highway was originally known as Merced-Hornitos Road and was later renamed as Youd-Hornitos Road. The present name of the corridor was assigned after World War II and is derived from La Paloma Ranch in Mariposa County. Aside from a small portion in Merced County the corridor of La Paloma Road has never been surfaced. The highway has continually declined in importance since Legislative Route Number 18 (now California State Route 140) directly linked Merced and Mariposa in 1918. La Paloma Road has in recent times become increasingly difficult for Merced Coun...
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