New Idria Road is an approximately 21.5-mile rural highway located in the Diablo Range of San Benito County. From Panoche Road to approximately 20.6 miles to the south the corridor is maintained as the paved San Benito County Road 107. The remaining 0.9 miles to the New Idria ghost town are no longer maintained and have eroded into a high clearance dirt roadway. Upon reaching New Idria the roadway continues south as Clear Creek Road which passes through the Bureau of Land Management owned Clear Creek Management Area. The New Idria Mercury Mine claim was staked in 1854. Following the theme set by New Almaden the community and mine of New Idria were named after the famous Slovenian mercury mining town of Idrija. Following a slow start the mines of New Idria would boom and the community would reach a peak population of approximately 4,000 by 1880. New Idria Road and Panoche Road were constructed to facilitate stage travel to San Juan Bautista...
Because every road has a story.