Route information | ||||
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Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
Length | 152.562 mi [1] (245.525 km) (Does not include the portion in Yosemite) | |||
Existed | 1934–present | |||
Tourist routes | ||||
Restrictions | Segments through Tioga Pass, and between Mono Lake and Benton, closed in winter | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | I-5 in Lathrop | |||
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East end | US 6 at Benton | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | California | |||
Counties | San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Mono | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Route 120 (SR 120) is a state highway in the central part of California, connecting the San Joaquin Valley with the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park, and the Mono Lake area. Its western terminus is at Interstate 5 in Lathrop, and its eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 6 in Benton. While the route is signed as a contiguous route through Yosemite, the portion inside the park is federally maintained and is not included in the state route logs. The portion at Tioga Pass at Yosemite's eastern boundary is the highest paved through road in the California State Route system. This part is not maintained in the winter and is usually closed during the winter season.
SR 120 begins as a freeway intersecting Interstate 5 to extend Interstate 205 through Manteca. In east Manteca the freeway ends at SR 99 and becomes a highway which continues to head east through Escalon, Oakdale and other various small towns. East of Oakdale there are no highly populated areas for 90 miles (144 km) as it heads into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and into Yosemite National Park. Entering Yosemite, SR 120 is known as Big Oak Flat Road as it heads towards Crane Flat. After leaving Crane Flat, Big Oak Flat Road turns southeast towards Yosemite Valley, while SR 120 continues east as Tioga Pass Road (or often simply Tioga Road). [2] The highway retains that name as it travels through Tuolumne Meadows, over Tioga Pass at an elevation of 9,945 feet, and through the Lee Vining Canyon on its 59-mile (95 km) journey to its intersection with U.S. Route 395, at Lee Vining. After a jog to the south along US 395, it continues east as Mono Mills Road, [3] skirting the south end of Mono Lake and providing access to the Mono Lake South Tufa as well as the historical site of Mono Mills before cresting Sagehen Summit and ending with the intersection of U.S. Route 6 at Benton. Both the portions through Yosemite National Park and the stretch between Mono Lake and Benton are subject to winter closure. Usually the highway is open through Tioga Pass by the Memorial Day weekend at the end of May, and typically closes for the winter sometime in November. [4] [5]
Tioga Road/Big Oak Flat Road is officially both a National Scenic Byway and a National Forest Scenic Byway. [6] The segment through the Lee Vining Canyon between the eastern edge of Yosemite and US 395 is designated as the Lee Vining Canyon Scenic Byway, a separate National Forest Scenic Byway. [7]
SR 120 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, [8] and both the western portion and the eastern portion west of US 395 are part of the National Highway System, [9] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. [10] SR 120 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, [11] but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation. [12] The Tioga Pass Road was designated as a California Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2002. [13]
During the Gold Rush, SR 120 was originally known as Big Oak Flat Road, after the village of Big Oak Flat through which it passes in the Sierra foothills. It was a pack trail from Stockton which became popular with prospectors about 1849. By 1874 it was a wagon road which extended to Yosemite Valley.
In 1921, the California State Assembly authorized San Joaquin County to transfer the county road connecting Manteca with then-Route 5 (now I-5) at Mossdale to the state. [15] It was numbered Route 66, as was a 1933 extension from Manteca east to Route 13 in Oakdale. Also in 1933, Route 40 was extended east from Mono Lake to Route 76 (US 6) at Benton. [16] The route from Manteca to Benton was marked as Sign Route 120 in 1934, [17] and was soon extended west to Mossdale, [18] replacing what had been part of U.S. Route 99W. [19]
West of Priest is a section of highway with over one hundred curves and hairpin turns, known as the "New Priest Grade." With a 4% grade, it opened in 1915 and was built by a group of local volunteers who desired an alternative to the very steep (17%) Old Priest Grade. [20] Today, both grades are paved, but trailers and RVs are prohibited from Old Priest Grade. [21] There is a 7,500-pound weight limit on the old grade.
In 1956, National Park Service developed plans to relocate the Big Oak Flat Road from Crane Flat to the park's eastern boundary, and reconstruct the unimproved central section of the Tioga Road. NPS management wanted to "open up" the High Sierra section of the park to vastly increased numbers of visitors, and planned a new visitor center and other facilities at Tuolumne Meadows, as well as campgrounds and other facilities along the Tioga Road. This brought fierce opposition from the Sierra Club, led by famed photographer Ansel Adams. Adams and his supporters opposed the blasting of a great granite dome southwest of Tenaya Lake, as well as routing the highway along the western shore of the lake. Internally, however, many Sierra Club members supported the project. At the time, Sierra Club opposition created a serious rift in the long-time close relationship between the environmental organization and the National Park Service. In the end, the government proceeded to build the project as originally planned, with only minor modifications. [22]
On November 25, 2020, the first diverging diamond interchange in the state of California opened to traffic at the interchange with Union Road (exit 4) in Manteca. [23]
Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary ( ). [1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
County | Location | Postmile [1] [24] [25] | Exit [26] | Destinations | Notes |
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San Joaquin SJ R0.49-21.18 | Lathrop | R0.49 | 1 | I-5 – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Stockton, Sacramento | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north); west end of SR 120; former US 50 west; I-5 exit 461 |
Manteca | R1.33 | 1C | Yosemite Avenue | Signed as exit 1 eastbound | |
| 2 | McKinley Avenue | Interchange under construction [27] | ||
R3.32 | 3 | Airport Way (CR J3) – Sharpe Depot | |||
R4.31 | 4 | Union Road | Diverging diamond interchange: first one constructed in California and opened to traffic on November 25, 2020 [23] | ||
R5.31 | 5 | South Main Street | |||
T6.87 5.82 [N 1] | 6 | SR 99 south – Modesto, Fresno, Los Angeles | West end of SR 99 overlap; SR 99 exit 241 | ||
6.65 [N 1] 6.20 | East end of freeway on SR 99 | ||||
SR 99 north / Yosemite Avenue – Sacramento, Central Manteca | Interchange; east end of SR 99 overlap; SR 99 exit 242 | ||||
8.84 | CR J5 (Jack Tone Road) | ||||
| 11.64 | French Camp Road | |||
Escalon | | CR J6 / CR J7 north (Escalon-Bellota Road, McHenry Avenue) – Farmington, Modesto | West end of CR J7 overlap | ||
R16.92 | CR J7 south (Main Street) / Kern Street | East end of CR J7 overlap | |||
Stanislaus STA 0.00-T18.17 | | 3.16 | CR J9 north (Valley Home Road) – Valley Home | West end of CR J9 overlap | |
| | CR J14 north (Twenty-Six Mile Road) | West end of CR J14 overlap | ||
Oakdale | 5.12 | SR 108 west (F Street) / CR J9 / CR J14 south (Yosemite Avenue) – Modesto | West end of SR 108 overlap; east end of CR J9 / CR J14 overlap | ||
Tuolumne TUO R0.00-R41.52 | | 8.19 | CR J59 (La Grange Road) – La Grange, Merced | Northern terminus of CR J59 | |
| | CR E15 (O'Byrnes Ferry Road) – Copperopolis | Southern terminus of CR E15 | ||
| 12.08 | SR 108 east – Sonora | East end of SR 108 overlap | ||
Chinese Camp | 15.52 | SR 49 north – Sonora | West end of SR 49 overlap | ||
Tuolumne River / Don Pedro Reservoir | R19.61 | James E. Roberts Bridge | |||
| R23.90 | SR 49 south – Coulterville, Mariposa | East end of SR 49 overlap | ||
Buck Meadows | R39.46 | CR J132 (Smith Station Road, Greeley Hill Road) to SR 132 – Coulterville, Merced | Eastern terminus of CR J132 | ||
Yosemite National Park | East end of state maintenance at western park boundary | ||||
| Big Oak Flat Entrance Station; park fee or pass required for entry [28] | ||||
Mariposa MPA R41.52-43.75 | | Big Oak Flat Road to SR 41 / SR 140 – Yosemite Valley | |||
| Tuolumne Grove (winter closure gate near the eastern end of the grove) [5] [29] | ||||
Tuolumne TUO 43.75-R56.15 | | Tioga Pass Entrance Station (closed in winters); park fee or pass required for entry [28] | |||
| West end of state maintenance at eastern park boundary | ||||
Mono MNO R0.00-58.99 | | R8.54 | Westbound winter closure gate | ||
Lee Vining | R12.06 50.74 [N 2] | US 395 north / Airport Road – Reno | West end of US 395 overlap | ||
June Lake Loop North Junction | 46.40 [N 2] | SR 158 south – June Lake | Northern terminus of SR 158 | ||
Mono Mills Junction | 45.96 [N 2] 13.37 | US 395 south – Bishop | East end of US 395 overlap | ||
| 18.49 | Eastbound winter closure gate | |||
| 39.05 | Westbound winter closure gate | |||
| 51.86 | Benton Crossing Road to US 395 – Owens River, Crowley Lake | |||
Benton | 58.99 | US 6 – Tonopah, Bishop | East end of SR 120 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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State Route 74, part of which forms the Palms to Pines Scenic Byway or Pines to Palms Highway, and the Ortega Highway, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs from Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County to the city limits of Palm Desert in Riverside County. Stretching about 111 miles (179 km), it passes through several parks and National Forests between the Pacific coast and the Coachella Valley.
State Route 140 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, 102 miles (164 km) in length. It begins in the San Joaquin Valley at Interstate 5 near Gustine, and runs east into Sierra Nevada, terminating in Yosemite National Park.
State Route 38 is a mostly rural and scenic state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting Interstate 10 in Redlands with State Route 18 in the Big Bear Lake area. It is one of the primary routes into the San Bernardino Mountains. Despite the orientation of its alignment, SR 38 is assigned in a west–east direction.
The State Scenic Highway System in the U.S. state of California is a list of highways, mainly state highways, that have been designated by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) as scenic highways. They are marked by the state flower, a California poppy, inside either a rectangle for state-maintained highways or a pentagon for county highways.
State Route 49 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush and it is known as the Golden Chain Highway. The highway's creation was lobbied by the Mother Lode Highway Association, a group of locals and historians seeking a single highway to connect many relevant locations along the Gold Rush to honor the 49ers. One of the bridges along SR 49 is named for the leader of the association, Archie Stevenot.
State Route 299 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the northern part of the state. At 305.777 miles (492.100 km), it is the third longest California state route, after Route 1 and Route 99, and the longest east-west route. Route 299's western terminus is at US 101 at the northern edge of Arcata, and its eastern terminus is at the Nevada state line at a point east of Cedarville. Between Arcata and Redding, Route 299 intersects with State Route 96, and is briefly co-signed with State Route 3. In Redding, it intersects with State Route 273, State Route 44, and Interstate 5. East of Redding, it intersects with State Route 89, and a section is co-signed with State Route 139 before reaching Alturas. It is then co-signed with U.S. Route 395 northeast of Alturas, and then runs east through Cedarville and to the border with Nevada. A ghost town, Vya, Nevada, can be reached via this route, which after the border becomes a dirt road, which was formerly Nevada State Route 8A. The segment of SR 299 between Arcata and Redding is the Trinity Scenic Byway, a National Forest Scenic Byway.
State Route 18 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It serves as a primary route into the San Bernardino Mountains, both from the Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan area from the south and the Mojave Desert from the north. SR 18 runs from State Route 210 in San Bernardino to State Route 138 in Llano. It has two discontinuities: one in Big Bear Lake, the other in Victorville.
State Route 41 is a state highway in the U.S. State of California, connecting the Central Coast with the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Its southern terminus is at the Cabrillo Highway in Morro Bay, and its northern terminus is at SR 140 in Yosemite National Park. It has been constructed as an expressway from near SR 198 in Lemoore north to the south part of Fresno, where the Yosemite Freeway begins, passing along the east side of downtown and extending north into Madera County.
State Route 20 is a state highway in the northern-central region of the U.S. state of California, running east–west north of Sacramento from the North Coast to the Sierra Nevada. Its west end is at SR 1 in Fort Bragg, from where it heads east past Clear Lake, Colusa, Yuba City, Marysville and Nevada City to I-80 near Emigrant Gap, where eastbound traffic can continue on other routes to Lake Tahoe or Nevada.
State Route 88 (SR 88), also known as the Carson Pass Highway, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It travels in an east–west direction from Stockton, in the San Joaquin Valley, to the Nevada state line, where it becomes Nevada State Route 88, eventually terminating at U.S. Route 395 (US 395). The highway is so named as it crests the Sierra Nevada at Carson Pass. The highway corridor predates the era of the automobile; the path over Carson pass was previously used for the California Trail and the Mormon Emigrant Trail. The mountainous portion of the route is included in the State Scenic Highway System.
State Route 89 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels in the north–south direction, serving as a major thoroughfare for many mountain communities in the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range. It starts from U.S. Route 395 near Topaz Lake, winding its way up to the 8,314-foot (2,534 m) Monitor Pass, down to the Carson River, and up again over the 7,740-foot (2,359 m) Luther Pass. From that point on, the route generally loses elevation on its way past Lake Tahoe, through Tahoe and Plumas National Forests until Lake Almanor. For roughly nine miles the route is then a part of State Route 36. The route then ascends to the 5,753-foot (1,754 m) Morgan Summit. After it enters Lassen Volcanic National Park it continues to gain elevation until it reaches its highest point in an unnamed pass in the middle of Lassen Peak and Bumpass Mountain. The road then descends and heads northwest, finally terminating at Interstate 5 at the foot of Mount Shasta at around 3,600 feet (1,100 m).
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