Bear Creek Road is a 13-mile roadway which crests the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Bear Creek Road corridor begins at California State Route 9 in Boulder Creek of Santa Cruz County and terminates at California State Route 17 near the Lexington Reservoir of Santa Clara County. A small portion of Bear Creek Road between Skyline Boulevard and Summit Road carries California State Route 35. The original portion of Bear Creek Road was constructed during the early 1870s southwest of Lexington by logging interests wishing to access Zayante Creek. The corridor was extended to Boulder Creek in 1873 by the Harmon Brothers as the Bear Creek Toll Road. The Harmon brothers toll franchise was ultimately unprofitable and their right-of-way was purchased by Santa Cruz County in 1889 as a public highway. Modern Bear Creek Road is generally considered to be the fastest path of travel between Boulder Creek and San Jose. Part 1; the history of Bear Creek Road The first porti...
Parker Pass Road is a rural highway located in the Sierra Nevada range of Tulare County. As the name suggests, this 19-mile-long corridor crosses the 6,443-foot-high Parker Pass. Parker Pass Road is maintained as Tulare County Mountain Road 50 and begins at Hot Springs Drive (Tulare County Mountain Road 56) in California Hot Springs. The highway crosses a series of switchbacks and terminates near the community of Johnsondale at Kern River Highway (Tulare County Mountain Road 99). Parker Pass Road was completed in 1935 to permit automotive traffic to reach Johnsondale by way of California Hot Springs. Johnsondale was originally plotted as a Mountain Whitney Lumber Company owned town to house workers. The community would remain an active company logging town until operations shuttered in 1979 and it was sold to private investors. Part 1; the history of Parker Pass Road Parker Pass Road was constructed to facilitate the highway travel between Calif...