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Madera County Roda 820 and Oak Grove Road

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The combined ten-mile corridor of Madera County Road 820 and Oak Grove Road is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills north of the community of Raymond.  Madera County Road 820 begins northbound at Road 800 and becomes Oak Grove Road at the Mariposa County line.  The mostly dirt surfaced Oak Grove Road continues to a terminus at Indian Peak Road. 

Oak Grove Road was initially developed in the late 1880s.  The original alignment began at the ghost town of Ben Hur and terminated at Indian Peak Road via the ranch of J.W. Coleman.  Oak Grove Road would be realigned in 1912 to towards Road 800 (then Bailey Flats Road) upon completion of the Striped Rock Creek Bridge.  The Striped Rock Creek Bridge is one of the few remaining Thru Truss spans in California which still carries a wooden plank road deck.  The corridor of Oak Grove Road is named after the Oak Grove School which was once located near the Coleman ranch property. 




Part 1; the history of Madera County Road 820 and Oak Grove Road

Much of what is now Oak Grove Road in Mariposa County was built in the late 1880s between Ben Hur at Bicknell Creek eastward to Bailey Flat at the confluence of the East and West Forks of the Chowchilla River.  Specifically, J.W. Coleman petitioned the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors on February 7, 1887, for a new road spanning from Bicknell's Old Adobe (Ben Hur) eastward to Bailey Flats.  A plat and survey were filed with Mariposa County in February 1888 which in turn declared it a public highway.  


Early Oak Grove Road is displayed in detail on the 1912 United States Geological Survey map of Mariposa.  The corridor is shown to originate at Bicknell Creek near Ben Hur (indicated by blue pin in the below).


East from Ben Hur the corridor of Oak Grove Road passed Buckeye Hill and the ranch of J.W. Coleman (shown as Coleman Flat).  From Coleman Flat the Oak Grove Road corridor turned northward via Striped Rock towards what is now Indian Peak Road (marked via blue pin).  Indian Peak Road continued southeast towards Bailey Flats at the Madera County line (split from Fresno County in 1893). 



The 1912 United States Geological Survey map of Mariposa didn't capture a then recent major realignment of Oak Grove Road.  In 1912 Mariposa County would construct a then new Thru Truss Bridge over Striped Rock Creek.  Upon completion the Striped Rock Creek Bridge the corridor of Oak Grove Road would be realigned south of what is now Blade Creek Road towards the Madera County line.  The new terminus of Oak Grove Road was relocated to Bailey Flats Road (now Madera County Road 800). 

After World War II Madera County would drop named roadways in favor of numbered highways.  Oak Grove Road north of Bailey Flats Road to the Mariposa County line was rebranded as Road 820.  



Part 2; a drive on Madera County Road 820 and Oak Grove Road

Madera County Road 820 splits from Road 800 via the course of Striped Rock Creek.  Traffic is warned about the weight limits of the Striped Rock Creek Bridge two miles ahead.  




The asphalt on Road 820 gives way at the Mariposa County line as Oak Grove Road begins. 








Northbound Oak Grove Road crosses the Striped Rock Creek Bridge.  The structure is a rarity given most Thru Truss Bridges remaining in California don't have a wooden plank road deck.  The structure was surveyed in 1991 as only carrying 50 vehicles a day. 









Oak Grove Road continues northbound and intersects Oak Grove School Road.  Both roadway corridors are named after the Oak Grove School which was located near J.W. Coleman's ranch.  



















Oak Grove Road becomes an asphalt surfaced highway a short distance north of Oak Grove School Road. 





Oak Grove Road continues northbound and widens enough for a center strip approaching the original corridor alignment at Blade Creek Road.  Modern Blade Creek Road does not connect west to Ben Hur Road. 








Oak Grove Road terminates at Indian Peak Road.







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