The Sierra Heritage Scenic Byway (California Route 168) features a range of recreation opportunities, historic tours, and scenic views of mountains and valleys.
The Sierra Heritage Scenic Byway was designated a Forest Service Scenic Byway in 1992.
From resort towns to recreation areas, historic tours to impressive views, the Sierra Heritage Scenic Byway is a drive that includes recreation for every personality. This 70-mile byway is as fun-filled as it is beautiful, offering views of mountain and valley as you drive the route.
The Sierra Heritage Scenic Byway begins in the town of Clovis, a suburb of Fresno. All the excitement of a city vacation is offered in Clovis, where you can go antiquing, shopping, and take historic walking tours. Continue your journey on Highway 168 to the border of the Sierra National Forest. Explore Shaver Lake, and enjoy the great outdoors. This area will provide lodging, horseback riding, skiing, camping, fishing, and mountain biking to name a few.
Farther east on the byway, find Huntington Lake, where boating, fishing, camping, skiing, and snowboarding make up the area's four-season recreation. This area nestled in the Sierras is comprised of beautiful alpine views and abundant wildlife.
The route ends in the Kaiser Wilderness in Sierra Canyon. From here, end your journey by checking out the region's famed hiking trails. From each trail, adventure is just around the corner. Do a little research beforehand, and be armed with fishing gear or picnic supplies and make the most of your day's climb.
Length of Byway or Route
70.0 miles
Driving Directions
This byway is located in the Central Valley and High Sierra Regions of California, beginning northwest of Fresno at the junction of Highway 145 and Highway 168. Follow 168 north past Clovis, Shaver Lake, and Huntington Lake. The byway ends at the Kaiser Wilderness Area.
Allow 4 hours to drive the byway.
Highlights and Key Points Along the Route
The Sierra Heritage Scenic Byway begins in Old Town Clovis, a suburb of Fresno. Clovis, the "gateway to the Sierras," offers shopping, antique stores, restaurants, and coffee shops. During the holiday season, one can enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride.
The byway leaves Clovis and travels up the western slope of the Sierras, through the Sierra National Forest. Shaver Lake offers lodging, horseback riding, skiing, camping, fishing, and mountain biking.
Enjoy boating, fishing, camping, skiing, wildlife viewing, and alpine views in the Huntington Lake area. Sailboat races are held throughout the summer.
The byway ends at 9,000 feet at Kaiser Pass Meadow and the Kaiser Wilderness Area. This area is known for hiking trails and rock climbing. White Bark Vista has a half mile nature trail.
Source:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Lodgepole Pine Forest
Annual rainfall:
35-60 inches of precipitation
Common Animals
Chipmunks, Squirrels, Marmots, Wolverine, our buddy the badger, Pika, Bobcats and many other transit species
Common Plants
Abies concolor, Achillea millefolium lanulosa, Arctostaphylos patula, Juniperus communis saxatilis, Monardella odoratissima, Penstemon bridgesii, Penstemon heterodoxus, Pinus flexilis, Lodgepole Pine (Pinus Murrayana), Pinus washoensis, Symphoricarpos vaccinioides, Jamesia americana californica.
Soil and climate notes:
Shallow rocky soils usually on granite. Soil pH ranges from 6 to 8, usually around neutral. This is a community like Los Angeles, most everyone wants to move from it, few want to move to it. This community is under siege by Bromus species though. When Bromus (small weedy foxtail type grasses) invades the site is much more fire prone. Lightning strikes that would burn 100 sq. ft. run and burn a 1000 or more acres.
In California this plant community exists at a subalpine level on shallow soils where the wetter spots are meadows. In the areas that are a little drier the Lodgepole Pine (Pinus murrayana or P. contorta ssp. murrayana) thrives along with Wild Currant or Gooseberry (Ribes species) and other shrubs, and in even drier spots plants like Bridges' Penstemon (Penstemon bridgesii or P. rostriflorus), Western Pennyroyal (Monardella odoratissima) and Sulfur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) survive.
Elevations are commonly from about 6000 feet to 12000 feet. There is not much snow cover, as in lower elevations, so the temperatures can fall very low. The trees often grow in very dense stands of small-trunked trees, or as scattered individuals that are much more 'Christmas -tree' like.
Areas where Lodgepole Pines have been left alone are dense, hard-to-walk- through forest thickets of trees.
Some of the areas of the Lodgepole Pine Forest plant community have almost no understory (where the trees were very dense), and when they were clear cut, there isn't much there years later.
The Lodgepole Pine Forest plant community has been clearcut in many areas, leaving a few trees here and there, and allowing other species of trees like Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi), Western White Pine (Pinus monticola), Firs (Abies spp.) and sometimes Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), to gain a foot hold. Greenleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula) provides cover for the pines, to start a new forest.
A yellow-bellied marmot might watch you as you hike in this plant community. He looks like a fat squirrel crossed with a rabbit. Late in summer he gets fat, chunky and too lazy to run away from a fat, chunky photographer.
Source: Las Pilatas Nursery
Big Creek Project
Southern California Edison Big Creek Hydroelectric Project
Located 60 miles north of Fresno, CA in the pristine beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains is the small town of Big Creek. Like many small towns Big Creek has an Elementary School, a Post Office, a Church, a Volunteer Fire Department and a General Store that serves great food. But there is something else Big Creek has to offer that other small towns don’t.
Formally known as Cascada, and now named after a tributary of the San Joaquin River, Big Creek serves as the home to one of the largest and most extensive hydroelectric projects in the world. Southern California Edison owns and operates this engineering feat, commonly referred to as the Big Creek Project and dubbed “The Hardest Working Water in the World.”
Location: Big Creek is located about 12 miles outside of Shaver Lake, California. Traveling on State Route 168, turn left onto Huntington Lake Road and about 7 miles later you will arrive at your destination. Although located at 4960 ft. elevation Big Creek is accessible year round with 4WD or chains often required during the winter months.
The Big Creek Hydroelectric Project first went into initial development with the help of John S. Eastwood. He had become interested with the possibility of developing power for Fresno and was the first to recognize the power possibilities in the region. Mr. Eastwood was a true visionary and was involved with many civil engineering projects in the San Joaquin Valley and High Sierras.
He led many survey parties to find the true potential of developing a hydroelectric project in the area with one of his most prominent contributions being the invention of the multiple-arch concrete dam. Henry Huntington’s Pacific Light & Power Corporation began phase one of the project in 1910. During this phase three dams were constructed to form Huntington Lake Reservoir, and Powerhouses No. 1 and No. 2 were put into operation.
With Big Creek being so remote the San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad Company was organized as a subsidiary to the Pacific Light and Power Corporation. Contracted with the Stone & Webster Construction Company out of Boston, authority was given and construction began on February 5, 1912. A short 157 days later a 56 mile railroad was completed, which is an engineering feat within itself. In 1917 Southern California Edison absorbed Pacific Light and Power and phase two of the project began with David H. Redinger as the Resident Engineer. The end result of the first two phases included six dams, eight tunnels (one thirteen miles long), three artificial lakes, and five powerhouses. In 1949 phase three of the project was started. With the completion of phase four, generating capacity went from 300,000 kilowatts to 1,288,000 kilowatts. Today there are 6 major reservoirs, 27 dams, and 9 powerhouses generating a total of 1,000 megawatts.
Time Period Represented: Early 1900s
Hours Open: 1:00 PM every Tuesday
Visitor Fees: Free of charge
Seasons Open: Memorial Day to Labor Day
ADA Accessible
Located 60 miles north of Fresno, CA in the pristine beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains is the small town of Big Creek. Like many small towns Big Creek has an Elementary School, a Post Office, a Church, a Volunteer Fire Department and a General Store that serves great food. But there is something else Big Creek has to offer that other small towns don’t.
Formally known as Cascada, and now named after a tributary of the San Joaquin River, Big Creek serves as the home to one of the largest and most extensive hydroelectric projects in the world. Southern California Edison owns and operates this engineering feat, commonly referred to as the Big Creek Project and dubbed “The Hardest Working Water in the World.”
Location: Big Creek is located about 12 miles outside of Shaver Lake, California. Traveling on State Route 168, turn left onto Huntington Lake Road and about 7 miles later you will arrive at your destination. Although located at 4960 ft. elevation Big Creek is accessible year round with 4WD or chains often required during the winter months.
The Big Creek Hydroelectric Project first went into initial development with the help of John S. Eastwood. He had become interested with the possibility of developing power for Fresno and was the first to recognize the power possibilities in the region. Mr. Eastwood was a true visionary and was involved with many civil engineering projects in the San Joaquin Valley and High Sierras.
He led many survey parties to find the true potential of developing a hydroelectric project in the area with one of his most prominent contributions being the invention of the multiple-arch concrete dam. Henry Huntington’s Pacific Light & Power Corporation began phase one of the project in 1910. During this phase three dams were constructed to form Huntington Lake Reservoir, and Powerhouses No. 1 and No. 2 were put into operation.
With Big Creek being so remote the San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad Company was organized as a subsidiary to the Pacific Light and Power Corporation. Contracted with the Stone & Webster Construction Company out of Boston, authority was given and construction began on February 5, 1912. A short 157 days later a 56 mile railroad was completed, which is an engineering feat within itself. In 1917 Southern California Edison absorbed Pacific Light and Power and phase two of the project began with David H. Redinger as the Resident Engineer. The end result of the first two phases included six dams, eight tunnels (one thirteen miles long), three artificial lakes, and five powerhouses. In 1949 phase three of the project was started. With the completion of phase four, generating capacity went from 300,000 kilowatts to 1,288,000 kilowatts. Today there are 6 major reservoirs, 27 dams, and 9 powerhouses generating a total of 1,000 megawatts.
Time Period Represented: Early 1900s
Hours Open: 1:00 PM every Tuesday
Visitor Fees: Free of charge
Seasons Open: Memorial Day to Labor Day
ADA Accessible
San Joaquin & Eastern Railrod
About this Byway or Route
This 56 mile Scenic Byway offers a glimpse of the Historic San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad, known as "The Railroad that Lighted Southern California."
The San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad was built in 1912, by Stone and Webster, an engineering firm from Boston, MA, hired by Henry Huntington. Mr. Huntington owned an Electric Railway in Southern California, which was growing by leaps and bounds at that time, and needed more electricity than was currently available. He realized the potential of John Eastwood's 1893 Vision of a Massive Hydroelectric Project, designed for the upper San Joaquin River Watershed, that would eventually not only create enough electrical power for all of Southern California, but would also break records in American History.
These Historical Firsts in our Nation included building a 56 mile long railroad from the floor of the San Joaquin Valley up into the Sierra Nevada mountains, using only hand labor, horses and mules and Fresno Scrapers to form a railroad, in a record breaking 157 days! At that time the only route into this section of the Sierra Nevada was by way of Tollhouse Grade, a very steep and winding climb known by the lumber and freight hauling Teamsters as "The Beast Killer". It was virtually impossible to haul all of the equipment and massive penstocks needed for this hydroelectric system up Tollhouse Grade in wagons. The only practical option was to build a railroad.
After the railroad was completed, work began immediately on Powerhouse #1 at Big Creek, and a 248 mile long transmission line to deliver the electricity to the southern half of the state. This was the longest express transmission line ever accomplished in the United States at that time, with the highest voltage ever used commercially (150,000 volts). After the completion of Powerhouse #1, and the 3 dams impounding water in the Huntington basin, the penstocks carrying this water to the waiting Pelton water wheels at Powerhouse #1 dropped a record 2,131 feet, making this the highest operating static head of water in the country.
So now you can see what this amazing hydroelectric system is all about, and what had to be accomplished and overcome to make it possible. One thing you'll learn for certain, Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric System is, "The Hardest Working Water in the World". And what does this mean to those of you who don't know? It means that in this day and age, when water is so precious to life and not to be taken for granted, every drop of water used in this hydroelectric system is used over and over again many times, by being pumped back to another lake, or rerouted through tunnels, in order to be used again and again, before finally being released and allowed to follow the ancient route of the San Joaquin River to the valley below.
Length of Byway or Route
The driveable section of this Scenic Byway is located a few miles above the town of Auberry, near the Mono Wind Casino. From this point to Powerhouse #1 at Big Creek is approx. 30 miles.
Driving Directions
Start in the town of Auberry, following Auberry Road to the Elementary School, veer right and continue uphill about 5 miles until you see a sign on the left that says Mono Wind Casino. Turn left there and continue about a mile. Instead of turning right into the parking area of the casino, stay to your left and follow the Jose Basin Road. This is the Actual San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad Grade that you you will be driving on. From this point all the way to Powerhouse#1 is approx. 30 miles.After you reach the Shaver Crossing Station, and continue out to the Old Huntington Road, the grade continues across the paved road.This section may not be driveable due to U. S. Forest Service locked gates, as this section of the grade has been taken out of commission, however at times it is open for travel when Fresno County is making repairs on the paved main route to Big Creek. This is expected to happen for a short time during the summer of 2011. If the gate is not open, continue to your left on the paved road for 3 miles until you reach the intersection
Highlights and Key Points Along the Route
The highlights along this Scenic Byway include sights of the steep San Joaquin River watershed, and the snow capped peaks of The Minarets. The SJ&E Railroad Stations located in this route were Indian Mission, Hutchens, Lerona where there was a school, Hairpin, Webstone, White Pine, Stevenson Creek, Dawn, Feeney, West Portal where the strongback car is still at the foot of the incline, Shaver Crossing; the last station in existence of the SJ&E Railroad (and is now a museum and interpretive center), Carlson, Camp 3, East Portal and Powerhouse #1 at Dam #4.
ADA Accessibility Notes
This Scenic Byway is a self guided tour from Auberry to Big Creek. Be sure to give yourself enough time to enjoy this Scenic Route. From Auberry to Big Creek expect to spend a minimum of three hours. Be sure to have plenty of food and water, as well as warm clothing, blankets, tire chains and a shovel, as the weather can change quickly and unpredictably at any time of the year( yes, even in summer). Be sure to let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return.
Pet Friendly Notes
Please make sure you have plenty of water available for your pet too. This can be a long, hot, dry and exciting ride for our 4 legged friends.
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