Skip to main content

Redinger Lake Road (Road 235)

By
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. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

By
When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...
Post a Comment
Read more

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more