Lost Coast Attractions and Lodging

- Humboldt County - Lost Coast

HumboldtCounty.com has a great review of the attractions and facilities in the Lost Coast area. - view related link

- Humboldt County - Ferndale

Ferndale is at the true end of California's Scenic Route 1. The entire town, known as the Victorian Village, is on the national registry of historical locations. - view related link

- King Range National Conservation Area

The King Range NCA is managed by the BLM. It is located in a rugged and scenic portion of Humboldt County known as the Lost Coast. It has some popular new bike trails as well as camping and hiking locales. - view related link

California State Route 1 and the Secret Lost Coast Stretch
by Nicholas Pablo

October 15, 2009

World Famous California State Route 1 - tales and details about the Secret Lost Coast Stretch from Ferndale to Rockport

Deep down in the underbelly of california state highway history and politics there is a deep dark and marvelous secret. This mystery involves none other than the world famous California Route 1 - the romantic highway drive of great legends, travelers stories, books, untold fortunes and mystical vacation memories.  There is a secret stretch of California Route 1 that sneaks slyly through the backhills of northern Mendocino and Southern Humboldt Counties from Rockport in Northern Mendocino through the Lost Coast of Southern Humboldt and on up into Ferndale in central Humboldt County. The exposee that follows will hopefully help to highlight the marvelous, rugged, scenic, rebellious, luxurious and stealthly details of this secret route that just might have you interested in traversing the remote hills of Southern Humboldt County.

Many who have actually voyaged into these majestic hills may wonder "What in the hemp are you talking about?!!?". And so sure I'll give you that beautiful black and yellow striped asphalt path of this hidden route may currenlty only exist in the vibrational reality of the very near future. However the history of this mysterious route along with the obvious beginning phases of new construction in addition to the existance of the current navigatible route are all much more than the stuff of myths and legends. The official story of this route goes as follows:

"State Route 211 is a California state highway in Humboldt County that connects Ferndale with U.S. Route 101. This route was originally planned to be part of State Route 1, but was renumbered as SR 211 after plans to extend SR 1 from Rockport in Mendocino County to Ferndale fell through" (Wiki Link Route 211)

As this official story goes it would have you believe that there is not in fact a current route that fully traverses the originally proposed route from Rockport to Ferndale. But the adventurous travelers of this 21st Century can indeed discover, with a little luck, another reality. There is indeed an unfrequented route that begins by leading south out of Ferndale into the mountainous redwood covered hills of the Lost Coast. The first time I stumbled upon this secret route I was preventing from fully exploring the path. I was perhaps 6 miles outside of Ferndale on this hidden stretch when I ran into a massive 4 foot crack in the road where the cliffside had literally split. This crack, apparently from a recent earthquake, prevented any further travel. But I was tantalized. I could see on the other side of the road that it led to somewhere mysterious that I wanted to see. But, Instead of continuing on I had to settle for a fried chicken picnic on the side of these south Ferndale hills watching eagles stalk their prey from high in the air and diving down in tree-covered valley below.

Several years later I attempted the same drive again to show my future wife the giant crack in the road. But to my surprise we never found the gapping hole in the road. Instead, we just slowly cruised on into the gentle coastal mountain pass drive that led through Montana-like, south-western Wyoming-like, south-eastern Idaho-like remote mountain pastures and tree-dotted mountain plateau curves. Not too long after that, as I realized we had truly uncovered something special, we came to what I can only say was a frightful, overwhelming yet magnificient sight.

Perhaps it was my own mental haze or the thick pacific ocean fog of the day or both but it was suddenly obvious that the path we were on was headed straight over the edge of a cliff and down into the ocean. Me and my wife were both captivated by the puffy white clouds hanging out over the pacific ocean that made our forward progress on the steep switchbacks appear to vanish.  It seemed for more than a bit that this secret route was once again proving innavigatible. But as the pass winded around it's happy cow pastures and scottish peat-moss hills we were slowly given revelations of one of the Lost Coasts secret beach stretches that lives down below in those hills. As we headed down the giant downward hill I could already imagine the five-star resorts that dotted the hills to the south. Self-sustaining eco communities, natural spring spas, wellness and eastern-philosophy retreats. Artist's studios and sales galleries dotting the entire path.

We never saw any visual signs of these operations, so we can only assume these destinations remain in the utmost privacy and exclusivity of the wealthy. But this stretch of beach looked like a surfer's paradise. This stretch on Mattole Road then immediately dives east following along the Mattole River back into the thriving riverside mountain town of Petrolia, population 200. It can be easy to get turned around in Petrolia since it is the heart of the Lost Coast. Here's what the official story says about the route from this point onward:

"The traversable route in northern Mendocino and southern Humboldt counties is Mattole Road, Wilder Ridge Road, and Chemise Mountain Road. The highway appears to end at the intersection of Main Street and Ocean Avenue in Ferndale. Only five miles of this route is constructed, while the remaining 103 miles (166 km) will probably never be constructed." (Wiki Link Route 1)

We are hear to tell you this is a fib. They make it sound like the route doesn't fully exist or that it will never be! This is hogwash. One can easily travel south from Petrolia on Mattole Road, past the Arthur W Way County Park (with overnight camping), and down all the way to Siskiyou Wilderness State Park in Northern Mendocino. For 6 miles south along this route out of Petrolia there are beautiful stretches of road and swimming holes alongside the Mattole River. At the end of that you will find the buddhist sanctuary town of Honeydew. This is where you have to make an important decision: Will you continue on into the deep dark mystery of Lost Coast's secret Route 1 via the Wilder Ridge Road? Or will you contine inland on Mattole Road back up into the bald hills, pastures and passes of Southern Humboldt where you will eventually reach the bumpy backdoor Bull Creek Flats road entrance to Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Let us say you are like Ernest Hemingway and you take the road less traveled. Good decision. You  are now truly at the gateway of the Kings: the King Range National Conservation Area that is. It is our firm believe that the locals in Southern Humboldt, old-school So Hum hippie Mateelites, have created a vibrational bubble around this pristine 50 mile area in the furtive attempts to keep this sacred native mountain range hidden and well-guarded from outsiders in the same fashion as the Shangri-La region of Tibet and Nepal. We believe they may even have some Llamas and other esoteric religious orders hidden up in secret mountain retreats and being fed a pure diet organic fruits and vegetables while they meditate on world peace.

I admit I'm rambling a bit through this section of road. Hey, it's scenic here and more than likely things will naturally tend to get a little foggy anyway, ahem, out in these remote independent self-sufficient lightly-regulated areas. Since we're admitting these sorts of things now, I guess I can tell you my memory is a bit hazy around these backroads. Oh, don't get me wrong, I've been out on them. It was just that I was riding with a pot farmer smoking a joint bumping along this backroute at top speed since the other road was probably washed out by rain or snowed in by a fluke snowstorm. It's really all quite fuzzy. I mean hey, I wouldn't even be able to remember anything about this guy, the actual roads or anything about it all really at this point, but I remember the scenery. And the train of black surburbans pulling trailer-size generators and a trailers full of enough fresh herbs to make any rasta cry.

This is the heart of So Hum with its patches of Manzanita trees, madrones, aspens, pine, fir, redwood filled with chantrelles and other exotic mushrooms, in addition to other infamous delicacies :)--* You will want to have yourself a 4x4 of some sort to put some reddish dirt on. Not that you couldn't maybe possibly highly uncomfortably make the journey without one. A 4x4 is more comfortable and safe. Especially safe. Safety. Safety would be a key notion to consider out in these remote tribal rebel lands. After all, they are guarding their mountain paradise from the outside man and other resistant thought forms.

Landergen Road is a lovely mountain pass off this inland stretch of road that shorts over to the Pacific Ocean. I wish I could tell you I've made it to scout the beachfront but I can neither confirm nor deny that. I can tell you this is a mountain ridge drive you'll traverse through next several miles following a small tributary of the Mattole. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere you'll run into the southern turnoff for Kings Peak Road and the King Range National Conservation Area.

Adventurous mountain bikers may have already well heard of and visited this stretch of the secret highway 1. In fact, the BLM has been slyly increasing their facilities in this area. This can only be an obvious foreshadowing of the formal completion of the current vibrationally perfect California State Route 1 from Rockport in Mendocino County to Ferndale in Humboldt County. Here is the official line on the Paradise Royale Mountain Bike Trail.

"Since 2005, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been working cooperatively with mountain biking advocates and clubs, such as the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), to plan, develop, and construct an environmentally sustainable, challenging mountain bike trail system in the Paradise Ridge area of the King Range National Conservation Area, situated near 2850' high Queen Peak, north of Shelter Cove Road.  The proposed system will include 30 miles of trails encompassing varying levels of difficulty and diverse scenic vistas, terrain features and riding experiences.  The trail system will provide mountain biking opportunities in a region where legal, single-track mountain biking-specific trails do not exist on public lands. The Paradise Royale Mountain Bike Trail was dedicated on National Public Lands Day, September 27, 2008.   " (BLM-Paradise Royale Mountain Bike Trail)

And If this tantilizing tidbit doesn't itself unveil the master plan to give Humboldt County it's rightful share of the massive world-wide notariety of California's Coastal Route 1 drive perhaps the thriving resort town and billionaire playground of Shelter Cove will convince the skeptics. You will arrive as royalty winding through these Lost Coast hills with perhaps the view of a castle or a private airplane landing on the airplane strip at the heart of the cove. The Shelter Cove is a remote isolated seatown with restaurants, hotels, some shopping and especially large homes for vacation rentals or for sale. You will want to stay a night and live up the vibrant nightlife of the rich and famous.

After wining and dining and romancing away the night with Hollywood Stars and Millionaire Playboys on the rough rocky seashore of Shelter Cove you will possibly have mustered enough faith in your driving abilities to complete your odyssey. In Shelter Cove you will find Chemise Mountain Road heading south along the coast. After 3 miles there is an interesting place in the road where Usal Road will take over and lead you down into Mendocino County and joyously into the Siskyone Wilderness State Park. This is the gateway into Rockport where the World Renowned California State Highway Route 1 supposedly ends and goes eastward into the beautiful landbound town of Willits. But, I think we both know better than that now don't we.

Remember, the word on this whole business is pure hush, hush. Hey, let's try to keep this a secret as long as can so we can snatch up all the land that we'll need to keep this our own private Shangri-La Mecca down in Southern Humboldt. We can use some sort of protectionist watershed global warming ecospeak to hold off all the big rich investors while we raise some funds. We might need to plant some bigger crops next year!


Related Materials on the Secret California State Highway Route 1

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Mattole Road - California's Lost Coast
Ferndale
Jump to Cape Mendocino and Mattole Road, Petrolia

Before you do any research, you'd probably just assume that California's Pacific Coast Highway follows the coast from end to end.  It's true that US 101 and CA Rte. 1 do a pretty good job of hugging the Pacific, but there's one area of the coast that's so rugged, so remote, that road builders simply didn't try.  This area is known, appropriately enough, as the Lost Coast.  Through this area, US 101 stays miles inland, and CA 1 doesn't even begin until further south.

Just the fact that you can't get to California's Lost Coast with ease, was enough to make me want to go there.  I did a little research on the  Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, but quickly realized that hiking through the area would be well beyond my abilities.  So, that left only one alternative--the seemingly little-known Mattole Road.

http://www.takemytrip.com/07orcal/07_13a.htm

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Backpacking Trip to The Lost Coast

This page is out of date. For the latest information please go to King Range National Conservation Area. The most important change is that permits are now required.
Description

    * Trail: Lost Cost Trail
    * Distance: 24.8 miles (one way)
    * Start Trailhead: Mattole
    * End Trailhead: Black Sands Beach
    * Permits: not required for individuals (free permit required for groups)
    * Driving distance: 230mi north of San Francisco

http://infolab.stanford.edu/~crespo/lostcoast/

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Black Sands Beach (Shelter Cove): U.S. 101 to the Redway/Garberville exit. Take the second exit (Shelter Cove). Turn to the left crossing the freeway and continue about 2 miles to an even  smaller town of Redway. At the other end of the town is Shelter Cove Road (Briceland Rd.) a street turning to the left (by a Restaurant). Continue across the Eel river and through the Whitemore Grove of giant redwoods. Shelter Cove is west for a total of 23 miles. You will pass though the hamlet of Briceland,  then Whitethorn, finally over two mountains in 5 miles. When descending both of these mountains  remember you must use your low gears.  After the "General Store," look for the "Black Sands Beach" sign and turn left.  Allow 45min-1hr from the intersection from 101.

Car shuttle (leave one car a Mattole, the other at Black Sands Beach).  The car shuttle takes about 5 hours round trip (45min from Black Sands Beach to 101, 15min on 101, 1 1/2 hrs to Mattole, and back).  Commercial Shuttles (always call in advance!):  Roxanne@saber.net at www.lostcoasttrail.com: (707) 986-9909   Shelter Cove Camp Ground Store & Deli: (707) 986-7474

It's very important to have a tide table.  Some segments of the trail are impassable during high tide.  Tide tables can be found on-line at www.harbortides.com, for the northern segment of the Lost Coast, you should use the Shelter Cove table at  http://www.harbortides.com/station_tides.asp?station=3080.  You can also use a San Francisco table and convert the tide times to Shelter Cove by subtracting 17 minutes for the low tide and substracting 39 minutes for the high tide.  Note: there are several Shelter Coves in California, make sure you choose the tide table for the right one.

These are the segments that may be impassable at high tide (mileage from Mattole):  Punta Gorda (2.9mi),   Sea Lion Gulch to Randall Creek (4.5-8.4mi),  South end of Miller Flat to 1.5mi North of Gitchell Creek (16.7-20.7mi)

There are several excellent chronicles and even a book or two written about the California Coastal Trail. Using any search engine, enter the words, "lost coast" or "lost coast +california".  The amount of detail in these online journals will take you the entire route.  You might want to print one before you attempt the trip.

http://www.beachcalifornia.com/lostcoas.html

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Since 2005, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been working cooperatively with mountain biking advocates and clubs, such as the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), to plan, develop, and construct an environmentally sustainable, challenging mountain bike trail system in the Paradise Ridge area of the King Range National Conservation Area, situated near 2850' high Queen Peak, north of Shelter Cove Road.  The proposed system will include 30 miles of trails encompassing varying levels of difficulty and diverse scenic vistas, terrain features and riding experiences.  The trail system will provide mountain biking opportunities in a region where legal, single-track mountain biking-specific trails do not exist on public lands.

The Paradise Royale Mountain Bike Trail was dedicated on National Public Lands Day, September 27, 2008.   The NPLD celebration was to recognize all the groups and individuals who contributed 4,000 volunteer hours to build the 14-mile loop trail. 

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata/kingrange/mountain_bike_trail.html

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Along the northern coast of California, civilization has left its mark on all but the most rugged or remote stretches of coastline. Large areas which have not been touched by major highways, towns and subdivisions are few in number-Point Reyes National Seashore, Redwood National Park, Sinkyone Wilderness State Park and the King Range National Conservation Area. Extremely steep and rocky terrain forced the coastal highway route, State Highway 1, about 30 miles inland from the King Range. This obstacle to transportation and settlement remains today as California's "Lost Coast."

The spectacular meeting of land and sea is certainly a dominant feature of the King Range National Conservation Area. However, it is also an area of mountain streams, trails and forests ideal for camping, hiking, fishing, hunting and sightseeing. There are five developed recreation sites in addition to several primitive camps. The King Crest and Chemise Mountain trails have been designated as National Recreation Trails.

http://www.mountainvisions.com/Aurora/krange.html

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The rugged wilderness that once characterized the entire Mendocino Coast can still be explored and enjoyed in the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park. Since there are no main highways near the coast in this vicinity, the area has come to be called the "Lost Coast."

Sinkyone Wilderness State Park is located within "Bear Country".  State Park regulations require that visitors store all food and scented items properly at all times.

Location / Directions
North end of wilderness - (Needle Rock): 36 miles southwest of Garberville/Redway on Briceland Road. Take Briceland Road west from Redway. Briceland Road becomes Mendocino County Road 435. The last 3.5 miles are unpaved, steep, & narrow.

South end of wilderness - (Usal Beach): Approximately one hour north of Ft Bragg on PCH or 15 miles west of Leggett on PCH from Highway 101. Look for mile marker 90.88 on PCH. Turn north for approximately 6 miles onto unpaved, steep, narrow road.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=429

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At its northern terminus, in 1984 SR 1 replaced SR 208, with the old alignment to Fernbridge, never constructed south of Ferndale, becoming SR 211.[23] This part of the Pacific coast, the only long section in California not served by a state highway, has been termed California's "Lost Coast".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_1
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State Route 211 is a California state highway in Humboldt County that connects Ferndale with U.S. Route 101. This route was originally planned to be part of State Route 1, but was renumbered as SR 211 after plans to extend SR 1 from Rockport in Mendocino County to Ferndale fell through. The current routing is unconstructed from Route 1 to Ferndale and is not signed. The portion of the route between the Ferndale city limits and US 101 is signed. The traversable route in northern Mendocino and southern Humboldt counties is Chemise Mountain Road, Wilder Ridge Road, and Mattole Road. The highway appears to end at the intersection of Main Street and Ocean Avenue in Ferndale. Only five miles of this route is constructed, while the remaining 103 miles (166 km) will probably never be constructed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_211
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Blue Star Memorial Highway:  Encyclopedia II - California State Route 1 - The Lost Coast

Instead of terminating at Leggett, California State Highway 1 was originally planned to follow the Pacific coast even farther north from Rockport to Ferndale. But this portion was never constructed, and the highway that was built between Ferndale and US 101 was renumbered as California State Route 211. Because of the lack of highways and roads between Rockport to Ferndale, this area has been coined as Calif ...

http://www.experiencefestival.com/blue_star_memorial_highway
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The Lost Coast
Instead of terminating at Leggett, California State Highway 1 was originally planned to follow the Pacific coast even farther north from Rockport to Ferndale. But this portion was never constructed, and so the portion of Highway 1 that was completed between Ferndale and US 101 was renumbered as State Route 211. Because of the lack of highways along the coast between Rockport and Ferndale, this area has been coined as California's Lost Coast.

http://en.allexperts.com/e/c/ca/california_state_route_1.htm

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6. From Route 101 near the southerly end of Marin Peninsula to Route 101  near Leggett via the coast route through Jenner and Westport.
   
The 1963 definition of this segment was "Route 101 near the southerly end of Marin Peninsula to Route 101 near Fernbridge via the coast route through Jenner, Westport, and Ferndale." In 1984, Chapter 489 transferred the portion from Rockport to Route 101 near Fernbridge to Route 211. The portion from Rockport to Route 101 near Leggett was transferred from former Route 208, truncating the end to " Route 101 near Leggett via the coast route through Jenner and Westport."

Pre 1964 Signage History

This was an extension of LRN 56 defined in 1951. It was signed as Route 1, but there was also a proposed Route 1 that ran between Leggett and Ferndale along the coast (never constructed).

The portion of this segment from San Francisco to the Marin-Sonoma County Line was added to LRN 56 as part of the 1933 extension of the legislative route. Also added in 1933 was the portion from Jenner to Westport. In 1951, LRN 56 was extended southward to the Marin-Sonoma County Line and northward to US 101 near Leggett by Chapter 1588. This segment was signed as Route 1 from the start of state signage in 1934, except for the portion from Route 211 to US 101, which was briefly Route 208 post-1964.

route 208

No current routing.
Post-1964 Legistlative Route Graphic In 1963, this route was defined as "Route 1 to Route 101 near Leggett Valley."
 In 1984, Chapter 409 transferred this routing to Route 1.

LRN56

The route that would become LRN 56 (the coast route, part of today's Route 1) was first defined in the 1919 Third Bond Act as running from Carmel to San Simeon. In 1921, Chapter 837 extended the route by declaring "the county road extending from San Simeon SE-ly to the town of Cambria is hereby...declared to be a state highway". In 1931, Chapter 82 extended it further by adding the segment from Cambria to San Luis Obispo to the route. In 1933, it received a number of additional extensions: (a) a segment from [LRN 2] near Las Cruces via Lompoc and Guadalupe to [LRN 2] near Pismo; (b) [LRN 56] near Carmel to Santa Cruz; (c) Santa Cruz to San Francisco via Coast; (d) State Highway near the Southerly end of the Marin Peninsula to the Marin-Sonoma County Line via the Coast Route; (e) Russian River near Jenner to Westport; and (f) Ferndale to [LRN 1] near Fernbridge. In 1935, all of these extensions were captured in the highway code as follows:
 
In 1943, Chapter 661 permitted the commission and the department "to abandon and relocate any portion or portions of [LRN 56] as now established and laid out between the intersection of [LRN 56] and [LRN 55] south of San Francisco and the town of Farallon City in San Mateo County and to take any and all action necessary for such abandonment and relocation. Such abandonment may be effected prior to relocation and pending relocation the commission and the department may adopt and maintain any traversable road around the portion or portions so abandoned." This was done because of the excessive number of rock and mudslides on portions of LRN 56/Route 1 which made maintenance excessive and endangered the public

In 1951, Chapter 1588 (1951 chapter 1588, p. 3585) filled gaps north of San Francisco and added a branch near Leggett Valley. This combined the third through fifth segments into:

    State highway near southerly end of Marin Peninsula to [LRN 1] near Fernbridge via the coast route through Jenner, Westport, and Ferndale; provided however that Section 600 of this code shall be applicable to those portions of said road added to the state highway system by this section, the same as if said portions had been added by the Collier-Burns Act of 1947, and the Department of Public Works shall not be required to maintain any such portion or portions of said route until the same have been laid out and constructed as a state highway

In 1955, Chapter 1488 removed the language related to Section 600. It also reworded the definition of the last segment to be "State highway near southerly end of Marin Peninsula to [LRN 1] near Fernbridge via the coast route through Jenner, Westport, and Ferndale, including lateral connection with [LRN 1] near Leggett Valley "

There were no further changes before the 1963 renumbering. This route was all signed as Route 1. The final definition was:

   1.      From LRN 2 near Las Cruces via the vicinity of Lompoc and Guadalupe to LRN 2 near Pismo.
   2.      From San Luis Obispo to San Francisco along the coast via Cambria, San Simeon, and Santa Cruz.
   3.      From LRN 1 near the southernly end of the Marin Peninsula to LRN 1 near Fernbridge via the coast route through Jenner, Westport and Ferndale, including a lateral connection with LRN 1 near Leggett Valley.

http://cahighways.org/001-008.html#001

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1964 Renumbering (Signed into law by Governor Edmund G. Brown on May 14, Senate Bill 64 provided for renumbering of the state highway system effective July 1, 1964.)

On  July 1, 1964, a major change in the numbering of California highways took effect that resulted in the disappearance of most US highways and major changes in highway numbers throughout the state. The renumbering was the result of legislation passed September 20, 1963 (Senate Bill 64, Collier) that streamlined the highway numbering system. By 1963 highway numbering in the state had become very complicated, resulting in confusion to motorists. This situation was further exacerbated by the appearance of the new signed Interstate highways in 1960 with federally designated numbers that duplicated existing numbers on US and state sign routes. In response to this situation, the legislation did four things: 1.) It made the legislative route numbers the same as the sign route numbers; 2.) It implemented a policy of "one number equals one highway;" 3.) It eliminated any duplicated numbers; and 4.) It replaced the system of stations based on legislative route numbers with post miles.

In 1934 the disparity between legislative route numbers and signed route numbers became even greater with the introduction of the State Sign Routes, a system designed to complement the US numbered highways. Now it was both possible and common for a legislative route to have more than one sign number route and vice-versa. For example, LR 43 was State Sign Route (SSR) 55, SSR 18 while US 91 and US 466 covered parts of  both LR 31 and LR 58. This confusion is especially evident in California Highways and Public Works magazines where legislative and sign route numbers were used interchangeably to refer to highway projects under construction. While this surely created many administrative nightmares and headaches, the effect on motorists appears to have been minimal.

http://www.gbcnet.com/ushighways/history/1964_hwy_renumbering_contents.html

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District 1

District 1 is headquartered in Eureka, and includes the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino. Our District Director is Charlie Fielder.

The North Coast depends on our highway infrastructure for both commerce and tourism. Route 101, traversing north to south through the heart of the District, has often been characterized as the "lifeline of the North Coast." Maintaining that route, and our highway system generally, in terrain that varies from mountainous to valley profiles, and from lake settings to coastline can be very challenging, especially in those areas where rainfall amounts are high.

There are about 600 employees total working throughout the District.

About 225 maintenance employees stationed at 16 strategic locates maintain about 2,400 lane miles of state highway.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/about.htm


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SR 1 winds along the rugged coast, crossing the Gualala River and entering Mendocino County. The highway enters the city of Point Arena, in which it becomes Main Street, before following School Street to the northwest and then becoming Shoreline Highway once again. The next and final major city along Route 1 is Fort Bragg, where it is known as Main Street. Continuing northward, the highway follows the coast for about 30 miles (48 km); it then cuts inland through mountainous terrain forested with redwoods, before terminating at US 101 in Leggett.

A large expansion of the state highway system in 1933 resulted in Legislative Route Number 56 being extended in both directions. To the south, a second section was added, beginning at Pismo Beach on US 101 (Legislative Route 2) and heading south through Guadalupe and Lompoc to rejoin US 101 at a junction called Los Cruces (sic), just north of Gaviota Pass. (A short piece near Orcutt and Los Alamos had been part of Legislative Route Number 2, which originally followed present SR 135 from Los Alamos to Santa Maria.) To the north, Legislative Route Number 56 was continued along the coast from Carmel through Santa Cruz to San Francisco. Several discontinuous pieces were added north of San Francisco, one from Legislative Route Number 1 (US 101) north of the Golden Gate to the county line near Valley Ford, another from the Russian River near Jenner (where the new Route 104 ended) to Westport, and a third from Ferndale to Route 1 near Fernbridge. Except for the gaps in Legislative Route Number 56 north of San Francisco, these additions completed the coastal highway, with other sections formed by Legislative Route Numbers 1, 2, and 71. [15] [16]

California Route 1 is a famous brand name around the world now, but California 1 was called several other names and numbers prior to 1964. When the road was first envisioned in the World War I era, it was referred to either by a highway name or by a "Legislative Route Number" or LRN. LRNs were used by state highway planners and the Legislature from 1915 until 1964, but were never posted on highways, referred to by the auto clubs or public, nor used on maps. Various portions of State Route 1 have been posted and referred to by various names and numbers over the years. The section of Highway 1 from Santa Monica to Oxnard, via Malibu, went out to contract in 1925 as "Coast Boulevard" but was designated "Theodore Roosevelt Highway" when it was dedicated in 1929.

California Highway 1 signs first went up after California decided to number its highways, in 1934. But only the section from Santa Barbara County north was posted as Highway 1, that section of the road known Legislative Route Number 56 (Las Cruces to Fernbridge, including the gaps). In Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange counties, Legislative Route Number 60 (San Juan Capistrano to the Oxnard area) became California Highway 3, and a few Route 3 signs were actually posted [17] . But the Route 3 signs were replaced by "U.S. Route 101 Alternate" shields and strips by 1936, as the road was built out; this change also allowed the extension of US 66 to end at another U.S. Route, in Santa Monica. [18]

The gaps of non-state highway along the northern coast were finally filled in by the Legislature in 1951, though the Department of Public Works was not required to maintain the newly-added portions immediately. A short connection from near Rockport to Route 1 at Leggett was also included, [19] as the existing county road north from Rockport to Ferndale had not yet been paved. [20] The Leggett connection became State Route 208.

In 1980, another section was added northwest of Ventura, when several miles of the old two-lane alignment of US 101 were posted as Route 1 where the freeway had bypassed it in about 1960. At its northern terminus, in 1984 SR 1 replaced SR 208, with the old alignment to Fernbridge, never constructed south of Ferndale, becoming SR 211. [23] This part of the Pacific coast, the only long section in California not served by a state highway, has been termed California's "Lost Coast".

http://wapedia.mobi/en/California_State_Route_1