Eureka Canyon Road is an approximately nine-mile-long rural highway corridor located in the southern extent of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Cruz County. Eureka Canyon Road begins at Browns Valley Road in the community of Corralitos and climbs to a ridge atop the Santa Cruz Mountains where it continues as Highland Way.
The Coastal Redwood lined Eureka Canyon follows the course of Corralitos Creek. Much of what is now Eureka Canyon Road was developed in the early 1830s to access a sawmill located on upper Corralitos Creek in what was then Rancho de Los Corralitos. Eureka Canyon Road would remain a major Santa Cruz County highway into modern times and last saw significant improvements following a flood in 1950. Eureka Canyon Road is favored by cyclists as it gains approximately 1,600 feet of elevation and is relatively lightly traveled compared to State Highways in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Part 1; the history of Eureka Canyon Road
Eureka Canyon Road passes through the namesake canyon in the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Corralitos. The roadway largely follows the course of Corralitos Creek north from the community of Corralitos.
The area now comprising Corralitos was part of the Spanish Portola Expedition of 1769. The name roughly translates to "little pens," but it is unclear what this was referencing. At the time of Portola Expedition, the Monterey Bay side of the Santa Cruz Mountains was populated by the native Awaswas.
Following the establishment of Mission Santa Cruz during August 1791 the southern Santa Cruz Mountains would become entrenched as part of Spanish Province of Las Californias. By 1810 the name Corralitos would be in common usage as a place east of Santa Cruz. During the era of Mexican Governance of Alta California approximately 15,440 acres of land would be granted to Jose Amesti as Rancho de Los Corralitos.
By 1832 Amesti is known to have constructed a sawmill to harvest Coastal Redwoods along the upper extent of Corralitos Creek in Eureka Canyon. The path taken the Amesti sawmill would form the basis for modern Eureka Canyon Road.
Following the Mexican-American War the lands would Alta California would be ceded to the United States. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided the Mexican land grants would be honored by the American Federal Government. A claim for Rancho de Los Corralitos would be filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant would be patented to Jose Amesti in 1861. Even by the 1850s Amesti was subdividing his land holdings which would form the basis for the modern unincorporated towns of Corralitos and Amesti.
In 1893 Santa Cruz County contracted W.S. Rogers to construct a modern truss bridge east of Corralitos across Corralitos Creek. This span was incorporated into what is now Browns Valley Road, but similar spans were also installed along Eureka Canyon Road north of Corralitos. The early highway bridges in Eureka Canyon Road can be seen below (courtesy corralitoshistory.com).
Eureka Canyon Road and Highway Way can be seen in detail as a single continuous highway corridor on the 1919 United States Geological Survey map of New Almaden. At the time the name transition appears to have switched from Eureka Canyon Road to Highland Way at Grizzley Flat instead of Buzzard Lagoon Road.
In 1950 a major flooding event occurred in the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Corralitos. A torrent of water along Corralitos Creek destroyed the Shingle Mill Gulch Bridge on Eureka Canyon Road. Additionally, the truss bridge carrying Browns Valley Road over Corralitos Creek was destroyed. Both structures were quickly replaced with modernized bridge spans. The 1950s floods on Eureka Canyon Road can be seen below (courtesy Evelyn McLaughlin).
From the western terminus of Browns Valley Road in Corralitos traffic can access the northbound beginning of Eureka Canyon Road. Corralitos is located at an elevation of 269 feet above sea level.
Eureka Canyon Road departs Corralitos northbound and enters Eureka Canyon. Coastal Redwoods become immediately obvious as the roadway enters the canyon.
Eureka Canyon Road follows Corralitos Creek northward to a switchback at Grizzley Flat. At Grizzley Flat the roadway turns northwest along the San Andreas Rift Zone.
Eureka Canyon Road branches northwest and climbs above much of the tree canopy onto a ridge. From the roadway the entirety of Eureka Canyon and much of Monterey Bay can be seen on clear days.
Eureka Canyon Road climbs to a ridge at approximately 1,900 feet above sea level and terminates at Buzzard Lagoon Road. Eureka Canyon Road becomes Highland Way which continues northwest to Summit Road.
Comments