Ruth Lake Bound Travelers Will Need to Take a Detour if Taking Ruth Zenia Road

The Ruth Zenia Road, the quickest route of travel from Southern Humboldt to Ruth Lake, is currently closed due to winter storm damage, leaving Memorial Day travelers with a long detour.

Of course, most of Humboldt County accesses the remote Trinity County lake by taking Highway 36 east just past Mad River before turning onto Mad River Road north of Ruth Lake traveling south towards the handful of campgrounds that sit along the green waters of Ruth Lake.

For Southern Humboldt residents, they also have the option of traveling east on Alderpoint Road through Blocksburg and Larabee Valley before hitting Highway 36 at Bridgeville and continuing on that route.

However, if you end up taking the Ruth Zenia Road just east of Alderpoint, you will need to forego the regular turn into Hettenshaw Valley, instead continuing straight onto Van Duzen Road that will cut diagonally to the north tip of the lake, meeting Highway 36 at Van Duzen where you will travel east on Highway 36 until turning off onto Mad River Road.

Essentially, all roads lead back to Highway 36 as the south end of Ruth Lake is inaccessible from the Ruth Zenia Road.

A road closed sign east of Hettenshaw Valley blocks the decent down to Ruth Lake near Ureland’s Place, the western ridge that overlooks Ruth Lake.

The Administrative Coordinator for the Trinity County Department of Transportation, Christine Siverts, told Redheaded Blackbelt that the road suffered emergency storm damage from the winter storms that battered the region in January.

Geotechnical engineering reports are coming in for the two-mile section of roadway that is sliding, as the county secures funding for the massive project.

A Transportation Director’s Report for the February Board of Supervisors meeting estimated the cost of permanent repair between $5 to $7 million though an April report stated that additional damage was caused, and the estimated cost exceeded $10 million.

The area where the road is slipping was badly burned during the August Complex and was stated to be the direct cause of the road failure.

Although open, the rest of Ruth Zenia Road also suffered slip-outs and damage from the January and March storms.

Siverts said that it is imperative that travelers report damage to the county so that they are aware of the number of impacted travelers. Trinity County has an online ‘Report a Problem’ feature on their website allowing ease of access.

At this time, there is no estimated time of reopening of the Ruth Zenia Road east of Ureland’s Place.

Whichever detour route you choose to take this holiday weekend, travel safely.