A ‘Fluid Situation’: Active Slide Continues to Halt Traffic on Bull Creek Road
Stop signs mark cracked and damaged asphalt on the Mattole Road which is a main travel way for thousands of Honeydew and Petrolia residents. [Photos all provided by California State Parks]
Buckling asphalt on the Mattole Road. [Photo provided by the California State Parks]
Crack in the Mattole Road. [Photo provided by the California State Parks]
Trying to assess the damage.[Photo provided by the California State Parks]
In parts there is barely room to walk through. Here a downed utility line further complicates access.[Photo provided by the California State Parks]
At this point the plan, he explained, is to try and understand the extent of the slide and bring in a geologist and other experts to determine what can be done.
The road is buckled in several places. [Photo provided by the California State Parks]
One factor that might help is a stretch of dry weather coming in after today.
But right now for the safety of the motoring public, Miller explained, the road is closed. Travelers have to come in from the north across the Wildcat or from the south across Wilder Ridge. Miller assured the public that the Park is trying to move as quickly as possible while making sure of the safety of everyone involved. He noted that law enforcement staff will continue to patrol the area on both sides of the slide.
Miller said that the latest evidence is that there has been a landslide here previously but it might not have slid within any one’s memory.[Photo provided by the California State Parks]
Earlier: Mattole Road Closed Until Further Notice
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
It has been a couple of years since Wilder Ridge slid out. There were issues about rebuilding it – was that ever fixed?
Also – the road from Ferndale (a long and twisty drive) generally washes out in the winter. Is it still open?
Yes, the wildcat is open for now.
Yes, the detour above the slip-out of Wilder Ridge Road at Landergen Road was successful and thankfully paved this last year, though the other bad corner above High Prairie Creek has to be rerouted to above that bad corner that’s continuing to slip into Honeydew Creek…that’s the existing worry. The work done on that active slip-out was never going to last. The current redesign, I believe, is to eliminate that whole corner and run Wilder straight down to High Prairie Creek (where the fish ladder sign is).
Wow, that’s a rerout like the landergen slide bypass. It might be steeper though. Hope they maintain wilder rdg and wildcat. We’re in for the long haul. Pun intended. Drive safe all.
Rain. Geology. Soils. Roads. Welcome to loving and living life on the southern tip of the PNW. Oscar the flying man caused climate change Grouch is not responsible. Humans are because they constructed the roads. Mitigation, reconstruction, happiness for all!
Considering the issue of the nest in potter valley, I propose bull creek road be removed, to protect marbled murrelet nests nestled in the shaggy old trees.
The entire mattole watershed should be turned into a tribal national forest managed by local enrolled natives, their employees and their many contractors.
This in line with our progressive values.
Unfortunately, private property will have to be dissolved towards the greater good, this in keeping to our values of contrition and appeasement to the moving goalpost.
This may be inconvenient toward those who own stolen land in the Mattole valley, but we can be sure it’s nothing compared to what people we don’t know went through in the past.
We must hold ourselves to the same standard we hold history too, am I right?
Land is theft, give it back, decommission bull creek road, save the potter valley eagle house inn!
Don’t say it too loudly, sarcasm or not. Humboldt State Redwoods have decommissioned a number of roads over the years whether there were objections or not. Removed and rerouted trails, closed camps, gated roads, paved over trails Burned the old barn on Look Prairie. More than any Park I know. They are scary.
Copy that
Send more. Please.
Never going to happen. There’s homes, livestock and farms that depend on that road. Your idea will NEVER happen
You alright? Why should we consider the Potter Valley eagle nest? Does Jared Huffman live out in the Mattole?
Do you live on tribal land now? Are you planning to leave your land in tribal trust? I don’t oun land. I know a few few longtime elders some white, male female, some phillapino, that are making arrangements for end of life transfer of lands to tribes for rehabilitation and reclamation. So grass can be grown to weave, so firs can be thinned so oaks can grow healthy acorns. Those tribes will want access to these properties. The futar is not backwards bro. Don’t get stuck on, (all the old roads are failing, we need to abolish roads.) Where do you live. Let’s focus on better roads and better reasons they are driven.
This is the way the world will start to slowly fall apart after the massive de-population, which will come sooner or later.
That got worse quick. Was hoping just a blown culvert. Wish for pics of whatever they are looking at up hill. Sounds like the panther gap slide in size, movement and trees down. Those trees sounded like explosions. Can’t imagine with redwoods. No wonder those folks are looking up.
500 cars a day… lol. Maybe at the height of summertime when the barbecue’s on at the Grange or something.
You might be surprised. Think about anyone from King Range Rd. To Panther Gap, to AWWay trying to go to Eureka. Think about the Touri, especially so close to 101. Pretty much the whole Rockefeller Grove is cut off from easy access.
Oh, i’m not saying it’s not an essential road! Just that for a research project, i spent about 3-4 hours, mid-day, along that road near Cuneo Creek and the cemetery, twice in November. Maybe a dozen vehicles went by that entire time on each of those days, if that many. However, since town trips in either direction take so long, people tend to pass through at times other than mid-day– in the morning or late afternoon/evening. So we were there at a low-traffic time. But I maintain that “500 vehicles a day USUALLY travel” that road is a bit of a stretch!
This slide is pretty close to 101. So there are lots of tourists and locals that don’t go as far as Cuneo or the cemetary, probably no further than Albee creek.
True. I just saw that by looking at the map and estimating where exactly this situation 1.5 miles west of the freeway is… looks like about where the Bull Creek Rd. veers west and leaves the banks of the river, where the Roosevelt Loop is. Could be up to 500/day in peak times!
Hoping humco rds dept spends extra time maintaining wildcat and wilder rdg rds. Lots of Xtra traffic means they’ll get bad fast.