Bitterwater Road

Back in February after some significant rains had fallen I decided a rural drive was in order and took Bitterwater Road from California State Route 46 south to California State Route 58.

Bitterwater Road is a rural road 32 miles in length in the Temblor Ranges near the San Andreas Fault. Most of Bitterwater Road is within San Luis Obispo County with a small portion in Kern County. From CA 46 south the first segment of Bitterwater Road is in San Luis Obispo County.

Most of Bitterwater Road is extremely poorly maintained; especially the northern segment in San Luis Obispo County which is largely open range. The roadway is wide enough for two vehicles and isn't a difficult drive aside from the local animal population.

Bitterwater Road takes a sudden easterly shift approaching Annette Road where it briefly enters Kern County. Annette Road more or less takes traffic northward towards Keck's Corner on CA 46.

This photo looking south along the Kern County portion of Bitterwater is one of my personal favorite monochrome road photos. I really love the conveyance of desolate isolation the fog and narrow roadway adds.

It isn't too long southbound before Bitterwater Road reenters San Luis Obispo County and obtains a center stripe. This segment is much more well maintained and remains a mostly normal roadway south to CA 58.

Water drainage along Bitterwater Road is virtually non-existent along the entire 32 miles.

There is a brief climb up to a summit which is approximately 2,300 feet above sea level. The road is bad enough to slow down to about 40 MPH climbing uphill southbound.

The cow population proved an issue for me on the February trip down Bitterwater Road, especially at summit. After waiting for about five minutes I got a lucky break and trucker scared the bovine obstruction back to their farm.

After passing the cattle ranches the La Panza Range to the southwest came into view covered in clouds. Bitterwater Road straightens out significantly approaching it's southern terminus at CA 58.

For some reason Bitterwater Road never was part of the Signed County Route program despite being really an ideal for it. I've generally used Bitterwater Road to get from the Fresno area south to Soda Lake in the Carrizo Plain National Monument in the past. I don't have any clear maps showing when Bitterwater Road was built but it appears to have been completed some time after the 1930s.

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield. Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away. In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south. Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center. Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat. The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area. In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

West of Addison, US 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River at what once was the town of Somerfield. When crossing the current modern two lane bridge, you many not realize that it is actually the third to cross the Yough at this site. The first - a stone arch bridge - was known as the Great Crossings Bridge. Built in 1818, this three arch bridge was part of the original National Road. The name Great Crossings comes from the men who forded the Youghiogheny here - George Washington and George Braddock. (1) If you cross the bridge at the right time, this historic bridge and what was once the town of Somerfield will appear out from underneath this massive man-made lake. Historical Postcard showing the 'Big Crossings' bridge and Somerfield. Image submitted by Vince Ferrari. The Great Crossings Bridge was located in the town of Somerfield. Somerfield, originally named Smythfield until 1827, would develop as a result of the National Road. (1) Somerfield would go through va