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Pyramid HIlls Road

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Pyramid Hills Road is a five-mile rural highway located in the namesake Pyramid Hills of Kings County.  Pyramid Hills Road begins at York Avenue near the former Lemoore Road stage station of Dudley and terminates to the east at California State Route 33 in the Kettleman Plains.

The Pyramid Hills are a short mountain range which is a component of the larger Reef Ridge.  The hills are named due to how they resemble Egyptian Pyramids during summer months.  The Lemoore Road from Cottonwood Pass turned northeast through McClure Valley where it passed Dudley at Deadman Gap.  Deadman Gap was closed sometime near the end of World War II when the Union Oil Company constructed a large well.  Modern Pyramid Hills Road was constructed to the south near Dagany Gap as a replacement access road.  




Part 1; the history of Pyramid Hills Road

The Pyramid Hills are a short mountain range located in Kings County.  This specific range spans from approximately California State Route 41 at Little Tar Canyon southeast towards Dagany Gap (at Avenal Creek).  The Pyramid Hills are named after the Egyptian Pyramids given they resemble each other greatly in the summer months.  The Pyramid Hills are a part of the larger Reef Ridge geological structure.

The Pyramid Hills can be seen immediately east of McClure Valley and the community of Dudley on the 1892 Thompson Atlas of Tulare County.  Kings County would split was western Tulare County on March 22, 1893. 


During 1910 the Devils Den Oil Field was discovered amid the start of the Westside Oil Boom.  A small company town known as "Devils Den" was established along what is now Barker Road to accommodate workers at the oil field.  The Devils Den Oil Field included nearby McClure Valley and the Pyramid Hills.  

The Pyramid Hills can be seen described in detail in the 1910 United States Geological Survey book titled Geology and Oil Resources of the Coalinga District.  Dudley is described as flanking the western extent of the Pyramid Hills in McClure Valley.  McClure Valley is cited to be part of the larger Devils Den region.  McClure Valley was named after an early oil settler in the region.  




Dudley is described by the United States Geological Survey as being a stage station located on the Lemoore Road.  The Lemoore Road entered McClure Valley via Cottonwood Pass (now California State Route 41) and departed the area via Dudley at Deadman Gap in the Pyramid Hills.  Upon crossing the Pyramid Hills the Lemoore Road continued over the Kettleman Hills to the shore of Tulare Lake.  Dudley was once the home of the McClure Valley Post Office.  




A roadway closely resembling the modern course of Pyramid Hills Road appears connecting Dudley to Devils Den via Dagany Gap on the 1914 United States Geological Survey map of Cholame.  Dudley was located approximately a half mile north of the western terminus of modern Pyramid Hills Road at York Avenue (marked via blue pin).  The roadway east through Dagany Gap displayed here more or less was aligned over the Avenal Creek bed. 


The Dagany Gap Road through the Pyramid Hills is shown to be no longer present on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Kings County.  The Lemoore Road through the Dudley town site is shown to be the only road through the Pyramid Hills. 


A new roadway using an unnamed southerly pass in the Pyramid Hills is shown to have been constructed on the 1943 United States Geological Survey map.  This road is shown to connect from the modern intersection of York Avenue/Pyramid Hills Road (marked via blue pin) and extended eastward to Union Oil Company roads near Dudley Station Stack east of the Pyramid Hills.


Modern Pyramid Hills Road appears on the 1953 United States Geological Survey map extending from York Avenue east to California State Route 33.  The western terminus is marked via a blue indicating where it meets York Avenue near the former Dudley town site.  Access to Deadman Gap and the Lemoore Road appears to have been blocked by construction of a large Union Oil well facility.  




A large oil well facility and gravel pit are shown to be located on Pyramid Hills Road on the 1994 United States Geological Survey map.  Pyramid Hills Road is displayed cresting the Pyramid Hills at approximately 700 feet above sea level.  




Part 2; a drive on Pyramid Hills Road

From California State Route 41 traffic wishing to access Pyramid Hills Road must turn east on York Avenue.  



York Avenue jogs directly eastward as a dirt grade through agricultural field where it terminates at Pyramid Hills Road.  The intersection of York Avenue with Pyramid Hills Road is only marked with a yellow right-hand turn sign.  Functionally York Avenue and Pyramid Hills Road act as a singular roadway from California State Route 41 to California State Route 33. 









Pyramid Hills Road winds through a series of agricultural fields and obtains an asphalt surface approaching vacant Holmes Western Oil Company wells.









Pyramid Hills Road begins to ascend into an unnamed pass in the namesake Pyramid Hills.  The range doesn't tend to resemble Egypt during winter months as it is often covered with emerald green grass.








Pyramid Hills Road enters the Kettleman Plains and terminates at California State Route 33. 








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