This Memorial Day, I took a long route through the southern part of the Mendocino National Forest in Northern California.
The trip begins on highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks, which is on the SE shore of Clear Lake in Lake County, CA. There is a Chevron in this little township, which is your last chance to buy gas, water, and snacks. The paved portion of High Valley Rd begins at the intersection with hwy 20 right next to the East Lake School.
In the first mile of High Valley Road you gain 500 feet of elevation in order to get over the hills that protect the valley. Then after a brief descent, you wind through the valley itself; rolling fields, ranches, and eventually vineyards. At about the 4 mile mark the pavement ends, and the dirt road begins. There is a wide spot here which is a great spot to stop and air down. I usually go down to 20 lbs just to soften up the ride over all the washboarding and unavoidable potholes – it makes the whole trip a lot more pleasant.
Stay on the High Valley road for quite a while as it winds up into the Mendocino foothills. Ignore all side roads-- 100% of them are gated at some point, none of them go thru. Around mile 8 you enter a very pretty pine forest, and you begin to get peekaboo views of Clear Lake through the trees to the Southwest.
Eventually High Valley road terminates in a 'T' intersection with Bartlett Springs road at a switchback, here signed as "M12" (although I don't know of any map that labels it that way). Turn right (uphill, NE) on Bartlett Springs road.
Within less than half a mile you'll pass a place signed "Precious Forest" (I think they have events like weddings there, but the name is so sickly sweet it makes my eyes itch…) and roughly half a mile past that you'll hit an intersection where Bartlett Springs continues straight, and another dirt road (Deer Valley road) breaks off to the left. I like to take a side trip down Deer Valley road to see Pinnacle Rock, a great viewpoint that used to have a fire lookout perched on it. The lookout is gone, but stone steps lead up to the rocky base. This is a good spot for lunch.
I brought my new drone with me, and shot a quick video (less than a minute) of the view. I'm brand new at both drones and video production, so the clip has no audio and no fancy editing. Sorry, I'm learning as I go!
After checking out the views from Pinnacle, head back to Bartlett Springs road. (note – there's no point exploring any further down Deer Valley road, as it is gated & signed as private property after a few miles more. And the gate is so over-the-top huge & industrial that you'd need C4 to get through it. I don't know if it is a pot farm, a meth lab, or a secret government training facility for ninja assassins (or possibly all three), but there's no point messing around back there unless you've got a couple platoons of law enforcement with you).
Once you've gotten back to the intersection of Deer Valley and Bartlett Springs, turn left (east) to continue on down Bartlett Springs. After a couple of ups and downs, Bartlett becomes a sort of shelf road for a while, and views open up down the valley to the East. After passing some kind of forest service buildings perched on the ridge, Bartlett Springs begins switchbacking steeply down the hillside. This is where you'll be glad you aired down your tires, as the road is quite beat up here.
Once you finally get down into the valley and the road straightens out, take a moment to relax, as this is the last bit of straight road you're going to see for a while! After crossing a small bridge, go another quarter to half a mile and you'll reach an obvious intersection with a new road splitting off and upwards to the left. Take the left onto Twin Valley road.
You're going to be on Twin Valley road for a fair distance, and it has several water crossings that, while not deep, can have steep approach and departure angles due to erosion during winter. This why you don't want to be dragging a low-slung car along this route. Proceed down Twin Valley road for quite a few miles (refer to my GPS track, as I had stopped noting mileage at this point). Ignore side & cross trails, and continue past the gated "Wild Bill Place" (Don't know what the story with that is, but great name!)
Eventually you'll reach a the first 'Y' intersection. Twin Valley goes straight and slightly to the left, FS 17NO7 splits off more sharply to the right. I didn't have time to explore 17NO7; on the map it looks like it punches deeply up to the NE, possibly all the way to the M10; however, as a wise dude said, "the map is not the terrain" – I have no idea if the road is open, washed out, gated, etc. Stay left on Twin Valley. Note that at this point, even though you've been on the same contiguous road for quite a while, some maps (including google maps/google earth) stop referring to this road as Twin Valley, and start labeling it as 17N04. Either way, just keep going.
Continue trundling down Twin Valley/17N04 until you the second 'Y' intersection. Slightly to the right & downhill is signed as "private", and indeed it is. Don't bother investigating this, as after a small water crossing you'll encounter a steel gate which is locked year around. Instead, turn sharply to the left, which puts you on French Ridge.
You'll immediately begin climbing on French Ridge, getting up to the ridgeline as efficiently as possible. This is my favorite part of the whole drive. French Ridge is better maintained than any of the dirt roads you've been on so far, and with good sightlines along the ridge you can pick up the pace a bit and really enjoy swooping along the ridgeline. It actually took an effort to convince myself to stop and snap a few pictures, as the driving was so pleasing.
Once you get further down French Ridge, intersections, side roads, and possibilities too numerous to mention begin splitting off. I haven't had time to explore any of them yet, so I don't know which ones go "through" and which ones end up gated. Just follow my GPS track if you want a safe, repeatable way to get back to the pavement. Otherwise, explore to your heart's content!
As you will see from my GPS track, when I reached a three-way intersection, I ignored the path straight ahead to Deer Valley Campground, and instead followed the switchback onto Pilot Grove road. I then followed Pilot Grove to Pitney Ridge. After exploring a mile down Sam Alley Ridge Rd (which ended up being gated), I backtracked and finally took High Glade road out to a "delta" of small, paved feeder roads that ended up landing me in Upper Lake.
Hope this encourages some folks to explore the Mendocino National Forest! Feel free to contact me with any questions or updates.
- Driving Time: 5 hours, with a 30 minute break for lunch at Pinnacle Rock.
- Difficulty: 2 out of 10. However, due to a few deep erosion gullies, you will need high clearance 4x4. When I say "high clearance" I just mean what you'd get with a stock Jeep Wrangler or 4wd pickup truck. You don't need an aftermarket lift here-- you just can't be in a Mini Cooper or VW microbus.
- Trip Start: intersection of Hwy 20 and High Valley Road in Clearlake Oaks.
- Trip End: intersection of Main St. and Hwy 20 in Upper Lake.
The trip begins on highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks, which is on the SE shore of Clear Lake in Lake County, CA. There is a Chevron in this little township, which is your last chance to buy gas, water, and snacks. The paved portion of High Valley Rd begins at the intersection with hwy 20 right next to the East Lake School.
In the first mile of High Valley Road you gain 500 feet of elevation in order to get over the hills that protect the valley. Then after a brief descent, you wind through the valley itself; rolling fields, ranches, and eventually vineyards. At about the 4 mile mark the pavement ends, and the dirt road begins. There is a wide spot here which is a great spot to stop and air down. I usually go down to 20 lbs just to soften up the ride over all the washboarding and unavoidable potholes – it makes the whole trip a lot more pleasant.
Stay on the High Valley road for quite a while as it winds up into the Mendocino foothills. Ignore all side roads-- 100% of them are gated at some point, none of them go thru. Around mile 8 you enter a very pretty pine forest, and you begin to get peekaboo views of Clear Lake through the trees to the Southwest.
Eventually High Valley road terminates in a 'T' intersection with Bartlett Springs road at a switchback, here signed as "M12" (although I don't know of any map that labels it that way). Turn right (uphill, NE) on Bartlett Springs road.
Within less than half a mile you'll pass a place signed "Precious Forest" (I think they have events like weddings there, but the name is so sickly sweet it makes my eyes itch…) and roughly half a mile past that you'll hit an intersection where Bartlett Springs continues straight, and another dirt road (Deer Valley road) breaks off to the left. I like to take a side trip down Deer Valley road to see Pinnacle Rock, a great viewpoint that used to have a fire lookout perched on it. The lookout is gone, but stone steps lead up to the rocky base. This is a good spot for lunch.
I brought my new drone with me, and shot a quick video (less than a minute) of the view. I'm brand new at both drones and video production, so the clip has no audio and no fancy editing. Sorry, I'm learning as I go!
After checking out the views from Pinnacle, head back to Bartlett Springs road. (note – there's no point exploring any further down Deer Valley road, as it is gated & signed as private property after a few miles more. And the gate is so over-the-top huge & industrial that you'd need C4 to get through it. I don't know if it is a pot farm, a meth lab, or a secret government training facility for ninja assassins (or possibly all three), but there's no point messing around back there unless you've got a couple platoons of law enforcement with you).
Once you've gotten back to the intersection of Deer Valley and Bartlett Springs, turn left (east) to continue on down Bartlett Springs. After a couple of ups and downs, Bartlett becomes a sort of shelf road for a while, and views open up down the valley to the East. After passing some kind of forest service buildings perched on the ridge, Bartlett Springs begins switchbacking steeply down the hillside. This is where you'll be glad you aired down your tires, as the road is quite beat up here.
Once you finally get down into the valley and the road straightens out, take a moment to relax, as this is the last bit of straight road you're going to see for a while! After crossing a small bridge, go another quarter to half a mile and you'll reach an obvious intersection with a new road splitting off and upwards to the left. Take the left onto Twin Valley road.
You're going to be on Twin Valley road for a fair distance, and it has several water crossings that, while not deep, can have steep approach and departure angles due to erosion during winter. This why you don't want to be dragging a low-slung car along this route. Proceed down Twin Valley road for quite a few miles (refer to my GPS track, as I had stopped noting mileage at this point). Ignore side & cross trails, and continue past the gated "Wild Bill Place" (Don't know what the story with that is, but great name!)
Eventually you'll reach a the first 'Y' intersection. Twin Valley goes straight and slightly to the left, FS 17NO7 splits off more sharply to the right. I didn't have time to explore 17NO7; on the map it looks like it punches deeply up to the NE, possibly all the way to the M10; however, as a wise dude said, "the map is not the terrain" – I have no idea if the road is open, washed out, gated, etc. Stay left on Twin Valley. Note that at this point, even though you've been on the same contiguous road for quite a while, some maps (including google maps/google earth) stop referring to this road as Twin Valley, and start labeling it as 17N04. Either way, just keep going.
Continue trundling down Twin Valley/17N04 until you the second 'Y' intersection. Slightly to the right & downhill is signed as "private", and indeed it is. Don't bother investigating this, as after a small water crossing you'll encounter a steel gate which is locked year around. Instead, turn sharply to the left, which puts you on French Ridge.
You'll immediately begin climbing on French Ridge, getting up to the ridgeline as efficiently as possible. This is my favorite part of the whole drive. French Ridge is better maintained than any of the dirt roads you've been on so far, and with good sightlines along the ridge you can pick up the pace a bit and really enjoy swooping along the ridgeline. It actually took an effort to convince myself to stop and snap a few pictures, as the driving was so pleasing.
Once you get further down French Ridge, intersections, side roads, and possibilities too numerous to mention begin splitting off. I haven't had time to explore any of them yet, so I don't know which ones go "through" and which ones end up gated. Just follow my GPS track if you want a safe, repeatable way to get back to the pavement. Otherwise, explore to your heart's content!
As you will see from my GPS track, when I reached a three-way intersection, I ignored the path straight ahead to Deer Valley Campground, and instead followed the switchback onto Pilot Grove road. I then followed Pilot Grove to Pitney Ridge. After exploring a mile down Sam Alley Ridge Rd (which ended up being gated), I backtracked and finally took High Glade road out to a "delta" of small, paved feeder roads that ended up landing me in Upper Lake.
Hope this encourages some folks to explore the Mendocino National Forest! Feel free to contact me with any questions or updates.
