Parker Pass Road (Tulare County Mountain Road 50)

Parker Pass Road is a rural highway located in the Sierra Nevada range of Tulare County. As the name suggests, this 19-mile-long corridor crosses the 6,443-foot-high Parker Pass. Parker Pass Road is maintained as Tulare County Mountain Road 50 and begins at Hot Springs Drive (Tulare County Mountain Road 56) in California Hot Springs. The highway crosses a series of switchbacks and terminates near the community of Johnsondale at Kern River Highway (Tulare County Mountain Road 99).

Parker Pass Road was completed in 1935 to permit automotive traffic to reach Johnsondale by way of California Hot Springs. Johnsondale was originally plotted as a Mountain Whitney Lumber Company owned town to house workers. The community would remain an active company logging town until operations shuttered in 1979 and it was sold to private investors.

Part 1; the history of Parker Pass Road

Parker Pass Road was constructed to facilitate the highway travel between California Hot Springs and Johnsondale. The Johnsondale town site was constructed by the Mount Whitney Lumber Company in 1935 east of Parker Pass. Parker Pass is named after nearby Parker Creek. In 1937 a bridge was constructed over the Kern River east of Johnsondale which permitted road access via Kern River Highway (now Tulare County Mountain Road 99) to Kernville. The Johnsondale Post Office would open in 1939, and the first sawmill would burn in 1943.

Parker Pass Road can be seen connecting California Hot Springs and Johnsondale on the 1948 United States Geological Survey map of Bakersfield.

Logging operations in Johnsondale would end in 1979. The property was subsequently sold off to R-Ranch and was subdivided. Modern Johnsondale mostly is comprised of summer cabins which flank the former Mount Whitney Lumber Company logging pond. The community is a popular access point for numerous recreational activities within Sequoia National Forest.

In modern times Parker Pass Road would be assigned as Tulare County Mountain Road 50. Much of the corridor can be seen in detail on the 1986 United States Geological Survey map of California Hot Springs. Said map displays Parker Pass as being located at an elevation of 6,443 feet above sea level near Parker Meadow and Parker Creek.

Part 2; a drive on Parker Pass Road

The southern terminus of Western Divide Highway (Tulare County Mountain Road 107) is located at Parker Pass Road (signed as Tulare County Mountain Road 50) near the namesake Parker Pass. Westbound traffic is advised California Hot Springs is 13 miles away. Johnsondale isn't posted for eastbound traffic, but it is approximately 6 miles away.

Eastbound Parker Pass Road descends towards Johnsondale within view of the Kern Canyon Fault. Parker Pass Road terminates at the junction of Lloyd Meadow Road (Forest Road 22S82) and Kern River Highway (Tulare County Mountain Road 99) approximately a third of a mile from the entrance to Johnsondale. Johnsondale itself is located at 4,720 feet above sea level.

Traffic on Parker Pass Road west of Western Divide Highway is advised of 11 miles of curves ahead.

Westbound Parker Pass Road crosses the namesake Parker Pass and intersects Forest Road 22S04 at Parker Meadow.

Westbound Parker Pass Road descends to approximately 5,500 feet above sea after passing Cold Springs Saddle. The highway approaches the top of a grade which carries eight switchbacks.