Hawkins Road (The Rollercoaster Road of Stanislaus County)

Hawkins Road is an approximately 4.5 mile north/south rural highway located in Stanislaus County. On paper the corridor appears to be mostly straight and uninteresting. This apparent straightness is deceiving as the roadway barrels over extremely hilly and dip filled terrain.

Hawkins Road is known to many Stanislaus County locals at the "Rollercoaster Road." The road is a favorite used by cyclists and distance runners for the purposes of an easy to access training corridor. Property records indicate Hawkins Road was constructed during the early 1950s to serve rural almond farming properties.

An overview and drive along Hawkins Road

Hawkins Road is a relatively modern corridor and was constructed during the early 1950s. Property records indicate of Stanislaus County indicate the homes along the corridor were constructed between 1955 and 1967. Most land parcels along the roadway are comprised of almond farms.

Hawkins Road first appears on the 1953 United States Geological Survey map of Montpelier.

Hawkins Road spans 4.5 miles from Keyes Road (County Route J16) north to Lake Road (formerly La Grange Road). The corridor is almost completely straight which would give one a deceptive impression about what type of roadway it is. Hawkins Road barrels over the hilly terrain through a series of large dips and is known to Stanislaus County locals as the "Rollercoaster Road." The roadway is popular amongst cyclists and distance runners for the purposes of training.

Northbound Hawkins Road begins at County Route J16/Keyes Road.

Below is the view along the extremely hilly northbound drive along Hawkins Road to Lake Road. Most of the hills along the corridor crest at an elevation of 270 feet above sea level.

Comments

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926. Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California. The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant. However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes. The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield. In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range. ...

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue. Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue. During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange. This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned. Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains. The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road. This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection. Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...