Jerseydale Road (Mariposa County)

Jerseydale Road is an approximately six-mile-long rural highway in Mariposa County.  As presently configured Jerseydale Road begins at the intersection of Darrah Road/Triangle Road and terminates at the site of the Sweetwater Mine in Sierra National Forest. 

Jerseydale Road was part of Hites Cove Road which had been commissioned in 1864.  The roadway traditionally served the Sweetwater Mining District and Skelton's Ranch.  By the 1880s a small mining community would develop and would come to be known as Jerseydale upon receiving Post Office service in 1889.  The Jerseydale Post Office would operate until 1930, and the Sweetwater Mining District would shutter later in the decade. 

Part 1; the history of Jerseydale Road

Jerseydale Road and the namesake community of Jerseydale are historically linked to the Sweetwater Mining District at the northern end of Clark's Valley.  The Sweetwater Mining District was placer mined beginning in the early 1850s in the early days Mariposa County.  By 1853 the Sweetwater Mine along Sweetwater Creek was the site of a 12-stamp mill.  

Skelton's Ranch was located nearby along what is now Skelton Creek at the southern end of the Sweetwater Mining District.  The ranch would become a major waypoint of importance following the establishment of the mine at Hites Cove in 1861.  Founder John Hite and his partners would commission construction of a mining tunnel, and a ten-stamp mill in 1863.  The mine at Hites Cover quickly grew into a small community with a rising economic profile in Mariposa County.  

Hites Cove was initially only accessible via foot trails.  On February 8, 1864, John Hite would petition the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors to construct a public roadway to his mining community.  Hites Cove Road was commissioned to be constructed north from the Yosemite Road (now California State Route 49) near Bootjack.  The roadway followed the general course of Snow Creek north from Bootjack to the community of Darrah.  From Darrah the roadway continued northward skirting just east of Portuguese Ridge past Skelton's Ranch.  From Skelton's Ranch the road to Hites Cove descended rapidly to the Hites Cove town site at the South Fork Merced River.  

The 1864 petition to construct Hites Cove Road can be seen below (courtesy Ephriam Dickson of the Yosemite History Facebook group).  The four signers of the petition (including John Hite) had spent $500 on construction of Hites Cove Road which included expenses for a footbridge over the South Fork Merced River.  The South Fork Merced River footbridge would be completed by 1866. 

Hites Cove Road can be seen terminating at Hite Cove and the South Fork Merced River on the 1870 California Geological Survey map of the Sierra Nevada adjacent to Yosemite Valley.  This map was based off surveys compiled between 1863-1867.  Hites Cove Road can be seen branching north from the Yosemite Road at Bootjack.  The corridor as originally configured also encompassed what is now Darrah Road, Jerseydale Road and Scott Road. 

By the 1860s the Sweetwater Mining District transitioned away from placer to hard rock operations.  By the 1880s a small permanent settlement began to develop which obtained Post Office as Jerseydale in 1889.  The first newspaper mention of the community appeared in the September 21, 1889, Sacramento Union. 

Jerseydale can be seen on the 1897 United States Geological Survey map of Yosemite.  The town is shown to be located at the intersection of modern Jerseydale Road and Scott Road (marked by blue pin).  Jerseydale Road is shown to terminate at the site of the Sweetwater Mine.  The community of Jerseydale was known to have three operating stamp mills by 1900. 

Between 1912-1920 the community of Jerseydale held an annual fair.  Numerous photos from the community during the fair events can be seen in an article written by Tom Phillips. 

The Jerseydale Post Office would shutter in 1930.  Mining in the Sweetwater District would shuttering later the same decade.  Jerseydale was never fully abandoned but does not resemble a town in modern times.  The community doesn't appear along Jerseydale Road on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Mariposa County.  The Mariposa Ranger Station marked on this map was located near the Jerseydale town site (Township 4 South, Range 19 East). 

Part 2; a drive on Jerseydale Road

Northbound Jerseydale Road begins a mutual intersection with Darrah Road and Triangle Road.   This photo faces west on Triangle Road where traffic would turn right onto Jerseydale Road.  

As northbound Jerseydale Road begins traffic is advised there is no access to Yosemite National Park.  Sierra National Forest roadways at the terminus of Jerseydale Road do connect to California State Route 140 but are designed for high clearance vehicles.  

Northbound Jerseydale Road winds through uphill grades to the Jerseydale Campground.  Said campground is operated by Sierra National Forest.  

Jerseydale Road branches left an unpaved corridor at wye with Scott Road.  Scott Road continues to Mariposa Pines and Hite Cove Road.  

Jerseydale Road continues as a dirt surfaced corridor approximately one mile northward to the site of the Sweetwater Mine and Forest Road 05024 (Sweetwater Road).