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

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more