Hites Cove Road, one of the gnarliest roads in California
Located in Mariposa County, in the U.S. state of California, Hite Cove is small mining camp tucked along the Merced River. The road to the town is a nice 4x4 trail with tight turns.
Located within the Sierra National Forest, the road to the town is totally unpaved. It’s a maintained fire road. It requires a river crossing to reach the town. The trail is very steep and the rocks are pretty tall. This trail is very hard on brakes if you don't have low gearing or crawl control. You'll find lots of poison oak here, a few mosquitoes, tick and rattlesnakes.
Starting from Jerseydale, the road is 6.11km (3.8 miles) long. 4wd vehicle required. The road is seasonally closed from early November through June and rolls through the narrow canyon of the Merced River. The trail is very narrow with dangerous drop offs: 2 vehicles meeting head-on may result in one driver backing up as much as a half mile to a safe turnout. The trail is closed until December of 2020 due to damage from the 2018 Ferguson Fire.
Pic&video: Decathelon Dave