Skip to main content

Redinger Lake Road (Road 235)

This past month I drove the entirety of Redinger Lake Road located in Madera County along the horseshoe bend region of the San Joaquin River.


Redinger Lake Road carries the designation of "Road 235" and is a 8.6 mile road which begins at Powerhouse Road (Road 222) at Kerckhoff Lake in Sierra National Forest and ends to the east at Italian Bar Road (Road 225) along Redinger Lake.


Redinger Lake Road was completed by 1950 and was used as a haul road during the construction of Redinger Dam.  Redinger Dam was completed by 1951 and is part of the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.  Internally Redinger Dam is also known as Big Creek Dam #7.  Redinger Dam is a 250 foot high concrete gravity dam which impounds the San Joaquin River.  Redinger Dam has a maximum capacity of 35,000 acre feet of water.

My approach to Redinger Lake Road was from Powerhouse Road northbound on the shore of Kerckhoff Lake.  From Powerhouse Road I turned east onto Redinger Lake Road.






Redinger Lake Road quickly enters the horseshoe bend of the San Joaquin River.  Less than half a mile from Powerhouse Road there is a trailhead for Horseshoe Bend Trail.




Redinger Lake Road quickly ascends to the top of the Horseshoe Bend where it has a view of Kerckhoff Lake.













Redinger Lake ascends to a bluff above the Horseshoe Bend and continues eastward towards Willow Creek.






Redinger Lake Road makes a sharp descent through a series of hairpins to the 1950 Willow Creek Bridge in the Redinger Lake Recreation Area.















Redinger Lake Road makes a brief climb from Willow Creek to Redinger Dam.










Redinger Lake Road passes through the Redinger Campground and Marina before continuing several miles to an eastern terminus at Italian Bar Road.





















From the eastern terminus of Redinger Lake Road the upstream waters of the San Joaquin River near the Italian Bar Bridge can be seen below. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway

The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County.  The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s.  US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935.  US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68.  As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934.  US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County .   The history of US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway Benbow, Garberville and Redway lie on the banks of the South Fork Eel River of southern Humboldt County.  D

Patterson Pass Road

Recently on a day trip to the San Francisco Bay Area I traversed the Diablo Range eastbound via Patterson Pass Road. Patterson Pass Road is an approximately 13 mile roadway which starts at Mines Road in Livermore of Alameda County.  Patterson Pass Road eastward ascends over the approximately 1,600 foot namesake Patterson Pass into San Joaquin County where it ends at Interstate 580 near Tracy.  Patterson Pass Road has an infamous reputation as being a dangerous roadway due to the lengthy one-lane section and heavy rush-hour commute traffic. Patterson Pass is one of the earliest documented European paths of travel over the Diablo Range as it was explored during the 1775-1776 Spanish Expedition led by Juan Bautista de Anza.  The 1775-1776 Spanish expedition charted out much of San Francisco Bay which led to the founding of the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis.  Patterson Pass Road between Cross Road east to Midway Road is part of the Juan Bautista de Anza

Highways in and around Old Sacramento; US 40, US 99W, CA 16, CA 24, CA 70, CA 99, CA 275, and more

This past weekend I was visiting the City of Sacramento for a wedding.  That being the case I decided to head out on a morning run through Old Sacramento, Jibboom Street Bridge, I Street Bridge, Tower Bridge, and path of US Route 40/US Route 99W towards the California State Capitol.  My goal was to retrace the paths of the various highways that once traversed the Old Sacramento area. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page The old highway alignments of Sacramento The City of Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River in Sacramento Valley.  Sacramento Valley was discovered by Spanish Explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1808.  Moraga referred to the fertile Sacramento Valley akin to a "Blessed Sacrament."  By 1839 John Sutter Sr. settled in Mexican held