Skip to main content

Drum Valley Road (Tulare County Diagonal Route 152)

By


Drum Valley Road (Tulare County Diagonal Route 152) is an approximately fifteen-mile one lane highway located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Drum Valley Road begins at California State Route 245 and ends at Road 152 near the Friant-Kern Canal. Drum Valley Road was originally constructed during the nineteenth century and can be found on numerous Tulare County Atlases in Township 15 Ranges 25-26. Drum Valley Road while sparse on traffic is very narrow and largely has a severely deteriorating asphalt surface.




Part 1; the history of Drum Valley Road

What is now Drum Valley Road appears on the 1876 Baker Map of Tulare County in Township 15, Range 25-26.  The exact year for the construction of Drum Valley Road is unclear but it appears to have been built to accommodate Gold Rush era property owners in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and to facilitate travel to the logging grounds of Camp Badger (now Badger).  


Drum Valley Road appears on the 1892 Tulare County Atlas by T.H. Thompson in Township 15, Range 25-26.  






Drum Valley Road appears on the 1917 California State Automobile Association Map.  


Drum Valley Road once was known as "Negro Creek Road" which refers to the namesake creek.  It is unclear when the road name switched to the modern nomenclature.  The road naming change likely came due to the original name of Negro Creek which can be seen west of the Drum Valley School on the 1922 United States Geological Survey Map of Trimmer, California. 


Drum Valley Road can be seen on the 1935 Division of Highways Map.  The eastern terminus of Drum Valley Road can be seen crossing Murray Creek at Slickrock Canyon to reach California State Route 65 (later California State Route 69 and now California State Route 245).  During 1938 the eastern terminus of Drum Valley Road was relocated to a new bridge over Cottonwood Creek.  




Part 2; a drive on Drum Valley Road

Westbound Drum Valley Road begins from California State Route 245 near Auckland and Badger.  


Drum Valley Road westbound descends to Cottonwood Creek and enters Slickrock Canyon.  Drum Valley Road is signed with Tulare County Diagonal Route 152 postmile paddles which descend westbound.  







Westbound Drum Valley Road through Slickrock Canyon and enters the namesake Drum Valley.  Goldstein Peak can be seen overhead from much of Drum Valley Road in Slickrock Canyon.   
























Drum Valley Road westbound passes through Drum Valley and enters Long Valley approaching Tucker Mountain.  




















From Long Valley the westbound course of Drum Valley Road begins to descend out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains via the course of Negro Creek.  As Drum Valley Road nears the floor of San Joaquin Valley it intersects Johnson Drive.  
















































Drum Valley Road and Tulare County Diagonal Route 152 end approaching the Friant-Kern Canal.  The road ahead continues south as Road 152 to Avenue 416 (former California State Route 63).  








Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. 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 Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 101 and California State Route 41 through Paso Robles

By
Paso Robles is a city located on the Salinas River of San Luis Obispo County, California.  As originally configured the surface alignments of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 converged in downtown Paso Robles.  US Route 101 originally was aligned through Paso Robles via Spring Street.  California State Route 41 entered the City of Paso Robles via Union Road and 13th Street where it intersected US Route 101 at Spring Street.  US Route 101 and California State Route 41 departed Paso Robles southbound via a multiplex which split near Templeton.   Pictured above is the cover of the September/October 1957 California Highways & Public Works which features construction of the Paso Robles Bypass.  Pictured below is the 1935 Division of Highways Map of San Luis Obispo County which depicts US Route 101 and California State Route 41 intersecting in downtown Paso Robles.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 i...
Post a Comment
Read more