Kings Peak Road Closed Indefinitely After Major Road Slip-Out
A Humboldt County Public Works crew member surveys the damage on Kings Peak Road, where a major slip-out has forced an indefinite closure. (Photo: Humboldt County Public Works)
A section of Kings Peak Road in Southern Humboldt has been completely shut down after a significant road slip-out at post mile 1.85, according to Humboldt County Public Works, Roads Division. There is no estimated reopening date.
The damage, visible in the above image, has left a large portion of the roadway collapsing down a steep embankment, making travel unsafe. A Humboldt County Public Works crew member stands near the washed-out section, with a county vehicle stationed nearby.
(Photo: Humboldt County Public Works)
Public Works has assured the community that updates will be provided as work progresses.
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Is that the road originally built with Chinese Labor? The original coast route from Fort Bragg to eureka? Once part of Route 1?
I kinda feel like Wilder Ridge road preceded the KP road, but I could be wrong. That Wilder/Briceland road junction is in the same spot on one of those early early maps. There was a Telegraph line strung up there somewhere. There’s a second northerly “Telegraph ridge” that runs north towards Cooskie from where the Smith Etter road terminates at the Kinsey Ridge road gate.
I am curious where the mile markers start, North or South. Is this 1.83 miles from the ShelterCove road? On USGS maps the stretch from Wilder down and west to the King Range road proper, and then up to “Horse mtn”, is called “Horse Mtn Rd”.
I think the Kings Peak road dipped down through the Matole and back up to the Landregan airport on Wilder Ridge. Same road?
Yes, but if I remember correctly, it crosses Bear Creek, not the Mattole.
Yup. North Fork of Bear Creek.
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Drop off of Wilder Ridge road (bit of an obscure crossing)… onto Horse Mtn Road. Go into a decent on a steep, switchback dirt road.
Crosses the North Fork of Bear Creek. Then climbs up the hill, turns into a single lane kinda sloppy road.
Climbs up to the top and joins a well developed road. If you turn south, it continues on as Horse Mtn Road.
If you turn right (North) at that junction you will continue on ‘Kings Range Road’. (Kings Range Road dead ends a couple miles further SW.)
But if you turn right on Kings Range Road, go about 1 mile, on the west side you will run into the end of ‘Saddle Mtn Road’. It is almost a fire trail at that point. (4WD)
Up that fire road and there is a great view from the top over the Ocean.
Saddle Mtn Road then goes for a few miles south… then joins Horse Mtn Road. Comes out at Shelter Cove road.
Makes a nice loop.
Thanks Bozo for the geography lesson.
Back in the 80’s I did the Sears service in Southern Humboldt. Those roads and shortcuts were very familiar to me. But, SoHum roads come and go.
Sears L.A. Merchandise Distribution Center Headquarters could understand why I wasn’t completing 12 service calls a day, and why I was padding my travel time. They even sent a beautiful brunette lady in a blue business suit and clicky high heels to investigate me.
She was very indignant about why I was charging 1/2 hour travel time to Redway that was only 5 minutes away. I told her that the people in the hills got their mail in Redway and they lived in the hills. I said a phone call could have cleared that up. I couldn’t just shut up and I asked her what her travel time from L.A. to Garberville was going to cost Sears… I just never seem to know when to let it go.
If memory serves (LOL!), K.R. Road offers access to the King Peak BLM trailhead. Very trippy short, but somewhat steep, hike to the top. Carry water. Get a weather report before you go, like always. I assume this access is now closed?
You are Right! Thanks Dave. But isn’t Bear Creek an upper tributary of the Mattole? Was I stretching things too far. again…
Yes – I believe that’s the South fork of Bear Creek, which has its headwaters near the junction of Shelter Cove Rd and Kings Peak Rd.
I don’t have my map, but I think you are correct, Bear Creek is tributary to Mattole, perhaps into Honeydew Creek. Not to be confused with Bear River at Cape Town ranch. It’s funny how big city offices of big companies just don’t get it. AAA is that way. Called in for assistance from A. Way Park and the SoCal office thought Rio Dell was five minutes away. I mean, it’s only an inch on THEIR map! When my wife needed forms for her Eureka business, she was told to just drop by the SAN RAFAEL office, ‘cause that was in her tiny, baby district!
Omigosh, i am late to this discussion; you may never see this. But wanted to tell you that Bear Creek meets the Mattole at Ettersburg. It flows mostly north ’til about the latitude of Big Flat, then turns 90 degrees east toward Ettersburg. On the old maps, it’s called Briceland Creek.
(And Honeydew Creek was called South Fork of Mattole.)
Correct Mr Kahan [camp] …. North Fork of Bear Creek
The King Peak road used to continue north past the KP trailhead, and it’s been put to bed past there. It got steep up above Honeydew creek, before it could hit the Smith Etter, and a route down past Cooskie to Petrolia. The “Horse mtn” road, that crosses Bear creek heading up to the old Landergan strip is only really effectively the King Range road now.
Don’t think so. That road doesn’t go anywhere. Original ‘Route 1’ was never completed.
Beach face is way to rough in that section. Gave up at USAL road and headed inland.
Pretty sure those ‘engineers’ would have taken the more inland route over Wilder Road.
Route 1 was never completed, but there was a road through where route1 was supposed to be completed. My history is in Northern Mendocino so my “Humboldt” is a little fuzzy.
You tell us Ernie.
id like to know
what was the idea back then?
I recall Harrell Snodgrass telling the story about building Paradise Ridge Rd as the supposed extension of Hiway 1. He characteristically used some colorful verbiage to describe the BLM folks who thought that would work out. The best part of the story is that BLM said to expect a lot of blasting required. Harrell said, “I grew up around there, and that rock is soft.” So he easily won the bid, knowing he wouldn’t need to do any blasting. At the same time, he had a friend that was having tough times and was in danger of losing his logging equipment. Harrell told him that he’d pay himself a wage along with the other workers, and whatever was left over he’d donate to his friend to keep his equipment. When all was said and done, he gave his buddy a check for $100,000. And that was in the early ’60’s. What a guy!!
I miss Harrell so bad. He was the only one that knew the history of Sproul Creek. Plus, just about everything else. He taught me a lot. He and Louie Schaafsma are the ones that taught me correct English expression.
You ain’t the only one – more than anyone else, he was responsible for whatever success I’ve had in forging an existence around here. I could tell Harrell stories for hours, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
No.
Ernie, 1878-1879 John McMillan (born 1829 Kentucky) with Chinese labor built the 1st wagon road from Garberville over the hills to Briceland. The road from Garberville to Briceland crossed the south fork of the Eel River at Wood’s Ranch (Sprowl Creek). This road is now known as the Old Briceland Road. A Mr. Yates was also involved in the road contract from Briceland to Shelter Cove. Chinese were used to build this road with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows at 50 cents a day and board. The Briceland work camp was located just north of the town, near a creek. The creek still bears the name “China Creek” for the Asian laborers. The 2nd camp was located on the present Shelter Cove Road about 2 miles west of the bridge that spans the Mattole River. The 3rd camp was about halfway between Shelter Cove and Wilder Ridge. This camp was called Measles Camp because of a sever epidemic of measles broke out in the camp. From Briceland, the new road was built westward and terminated about 4 1/2 miles east of Shelter Cove where it continued on towards the Mattole. The Chinese laborers were brought down from the Trinity mines. Road was made wide enough for wagons to travel. The Ray brothers with McMillan built the remaining 4 1/2 miles of road from Shelter Cove to the Mattole This wagon road connected Shelter Cove with the coast wagon road. The coast road originated in Table Bluff and passed through Capetown and Petrolia along the upper Mattole and then along the King Range into Mendocino County.
State Highway 211
It is KING Peak. It is The KING. It is not the king’s possession. Nor are there many kings on the peak. It is KING Peak. Respect.
It was named after someone in the 1800’s.
Thus the possessive. The official sign, the name on Google, and on historical maps over 100 years old that I’ve seen, all say Kings Peak or King’s Peak. In addition, the peak was called King’s Peak when I was growing up by all the locals.
And yes due to one map somewhere about 50 years ago, some folks began calling King Peak but, I’m old fashioned and that sounds crappy to me.
Excellent reply, Kym. It is and has always been Kings Peak.
Thanks Kym. But you might have to be careful using those old maps. Some of them are a little bit TOO descriptive.
Oh, please…It is a range of peaks, Kim. There is also Queen Peak right next to King Peak. Would be quite the coincidence if there was also “someone” named Queen here a long time ago as well. King Peak is so much more special than what you are enabling with this erroneous label.
Welp, the maps from the 1800’s show “King’s Peak” and old time locals all used the possessive (my family moved to Humboldt in the early 1900’s–Cyrus Cole was a well-known moonshiner who frequented the Lost Coast area–and to Mendocino in the 1850’s–Ernie Branscomb family has a similar history as does Mary Ann Machi’s family–both of whom agree with me). Note when Queens Peak Mining Company Mine was started in the late 1950’s, it was known as Queen’s Peak not Queen Peak. Still all the old maps could be wrong and you and the modern maps could be right. [Stalks away muttering “whippersnapper” and “newcomer” under her breath. “Can’t even spell my name right and think he’s an authority on local nomenclature”].
Adding on to Kym’s reply (which I totally agree with having been born and raised at Shelter Cove) it’s believed King’s Peak was named after Captain King of the US Army (Place Names of Humboldt County). The name King Peak was applied in the 1980s on BLM road signs after they did some research that most locals disagreed with. I have copies of maps going back to 1886 and they all are marked King’s Peak.
Hi Mary Ann and Kym, just because i so love historical accuracy, i want to point out that both the 1871 Coast Survey and the 1916 Army Corps of Engineers maps say King Peak. However… i still think of it as King’s Peak, and know that the most generally accepted reason for that name is a captain of the army, as you say, or as Buck Miner concluded, a Samuel D. King, the Surveyor General of California, who established the Humboldt Meridian– which passes through both Mt. Pierce (the Monument) and King’s Peak. (See pp. 147-148 of Miner’s “The Origin of Mattole.”)
However, a more recent claim is Greg King’s. He’s the environmentalist/writer with ancestors in northern Mendocino County. He had several ancestors in northern Mendocino County (brothers), and claims that one of them is the namesake, and has a story of how that came about, even mentioning some piece of paper that showed it. However, i did ask him to see a copy of that paper but it turns out it’s from way back and cannot be produced. So… while his story was plausible, i am taking it with a grain of salt.
And here’s the 1916 ACE map. Thought you might find it interesting, not trying to prove anything.
I love the old maps. Thank you. It’s interesting that the longtime locals all call it King’s Peak but some of the maps are different. It would be interesting to know who the mapmakers were–if they were local.
Probably not, though they would use locals for information. Probably somewhere in the archive, the Army Corps of Engineers would say who helped. As far as the coastal survey goes, i’ll try to remember to look in a book (over at our MVHS museum) describing the survey process which does name some informants– one was William Miller of the Miller Flat area. But i feel like that was later than the 1870s… will let you know what i find.
Invisible Man Syndrome Zone
Still curious, does anyone happen to know if that mile marker is down on the South end closer to the Shelter Cove? I’d go out on a limb and say it’s not that much more time to get to the kings peak trailhead from Wilder, even for a more Southern So-Hummer.
A guess. Probably a bit longer. That also depends on ‘what’ and ‘how’ you drive !
Starting from Shelter Cove, have to go 25(+-) minutes east to the Wilder Ridge road, then go north about 30 (+-) minutes on Wilder (Etterburg Road) then come back south on the Horse Mtn Road (single lane dirt) road to get to get back to the Kings Peak road.
In winter weather, that last part might take a while.
South end, it’s a long Paradise Royale to get to the anything…I hope it’s not the Wilder side. I heard that kid Bob Stansberry wants to hike the peak for his birthday.
Against doctor’s orders now!