Big Creek Road is an approximately 19-mile rural highway which is designated as Sierra National Forest Route 9. Big Creek Road begins at Trimmer Springs Road at the Pine Flat Reservoir. The mostly unsurfaced corridor follows Forest Roads 10S69 and 10S02 northward through Blue Canyon alongside Big Creek to the site of Bretz Mill. From Bretz Mill the highway continues westward on a paved portion of Forest Road 10S02 to a terminus located the Fresno County maintained Peterson Road and Cressman Road.
Bretz Mill is named after Fresno County and Pineridge area pioneer Joseph Simon Bretz. Much of the corridor of Big Creek passes through property once owned by the Bretz family. The balance of Big Creek Road was constructed through Blue Canyon by 1936 when a bridge over Big Creek was completed.
Part 1; the history of Big Creek Road
Big Creek Road (Sierra National Forest Route 9) follows the namesake Big Creek as it snakes through the Sierra Nevada range of eastern Fresno County. The Big Creek in question is part of the Kings River watershed and empties into the Pine Flat Reservoir near Trimmer Springs. This Big Creek is located a short distance from the more famous creek of the same name which is part of the San Joaquin River watershed and Big Creek Hydroelectric Project.
Big Creek Road serves the primary access route to the site of Bretz Mill in Blue Canyon. Bretz Mill is named after eastern Fresno County lumberman Joseph Simon Bretz. Bretz was born in Pennsylvania in 1836 and was a Civil War veteran. After settling in Iowa for a time he would relocate in 1875 to the Pineridge area off the Tollhouse Road (future California State Route 168) in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County.
Joseph Simon Bretz would initially work at Clipper Mill and would later purchase it. Bretz Mill was later established east of Pineridge and would be worked Bretz's family past Joseph Simon Bretz death in 1911. The workers of Bretz Mill would clear the grounds for Shaver Lake in 1926 at the behest of Southern California Edison. Bretz Mill would eventually shutter during the 1960s.
The Bretz property can be seen east of the Tollhouse Road, Pineridge and Ockenden on the 1891 Thompson Atlas of Fresno County in Township 10 South, Range 24 East.
The same atlas displays much of the watershed along Big Creek in Township 10 South, Range 25 East as then unclaimed for lumber rights.
The 1904 United States Geological Survey map displays what is now Big Creek Road extending east from the terminus of Fresno County maintained Peterson Road and Cressman Road to Big Creek. The site of what would become Bretz Mill is marked in blue. Peterson Road itself is named after the Peterson Mill which was once located on Big Creek Road.
The 1911 Denny map of Fresno County shows much of the lands east of Big Creek in Township 11 South, Range 25 East as unsurveyed.
In 1936 Big Creek Road was extended south of Bretz Mill to Trimmer Springs Road at the Kings River. The extension included construction of a bridge over Big Creek which still stands in modern times.
Trimmer Springs Road would be heavily modified and relocated by the construction of Pine Flat Dam project by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Funding for the concrete gravity dam was released by then President Harry Truman on February 18, 1947, and construction would break ground on May 27, 1947. The relocation truncated Big Creek Road and included construction of a bridge carrying Trimmer Springs Road over Big Creek in 1952.
Modern Big Creek Road north of Trimmer Springs Road can be seen on the 1952 United Stages Geological Survey map of Patterson Mountain. Said map displays the then ongoing relocation of Trimmer Springs Road.
Big Creek Road can be seen crossing through Bretz Mill and Blue Canyon the 1953 United States Geological Survey map of Shaver Lake. The current bridge over Big Creek near the site of Bretz Mill was constructed in 1954.
Part 2; a drive on Big Creek Road
Northbound Big Creek Road begins along Trimmer Springs Road approaching Big Creek. Until recently traffic was greeted with a sign which displayed Sierra National Forest Route 9. Following a fire in 2016 the Forest Route 9 was replaced by a guide sign which notes Bretz Mill to be 15 miles away. As Big Creek Road begins it is carried on a dirt portion of Forest Road 10S69.
Approximately one mile into northbound Big Creek Road traffic can visit an abandoned National Forest gaging station along Big Creek.
Northbound Big Creek Road continues through the lower reaches of Blue Canyon and intersects Soaproot Saddle Road (Forest Road 10S04).
Big Creek Road crosses over the 1936 era highway bridge at Big Creek.
Big Creek Road begins to ascend along the eastern flank of Blue Canyon comes to a junction with Vomac Road. Big Creek Road and Forest Route 9 transition from Forest Road 10S69 onto 10S02. Traffic is notified Bretz Flat is 7 miles away via Forest Road 10S02. Forest Road 10S69 is carried eastward as Vomac Road.
Big Creek Road begins a steep ascent alongside Blue Canyon. The canyon itself can be spied several times from the roadway amid the climb. Sierra National Forest rates the dirt part of Forest Road 10S02 as accessible to passenger cars. This claim seems to be questionable due to several large humps on several uphill inclines which might result in a low clearance vehicle scraping.
The dirt portion of Big Creek Road gives way to an asphalt surface approximately 10 miles north of Trimmer Springs Road.
Big Creek Road intersects Barnes Mountain Road (Forest Road 10S05) approximately 4 miles from Bretz Mill.
Big Creek Road makes a left-hand turn near Bretz Mill at Rock Creek Road (Forest Road 10S17). California State Route 168 is noted to be approximately 13 miles away from the Rock Creek Road junction. Rock Creek Road takes traffic northeast towards Dinkey Creek Road.
Big Creek Road passes by the site of Bretz Mill which is now the Blue Canyon Work Center and Bretz Mill Campground.
Big Creek Road crosses the 1954-era Big Creek Bridge and ascends to a ridge where it intersects the opposite end of Soaproot Saddle Road.
The remaining part of Big Creek Road and Forest Route 9 follow Forest Road westward 10S02 to a terminus at the Fresno County maintained Peterson Road and Cressman Road. Peterson Road continues west to Tollhouse Road below Pine Ridge. Cressman Road terminates at modern California State Route 168 at Pineridge near the site of Cressman's General Store.
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