History: The Old Coulterville Road, and the Old Big Oak Flat roads were the first roads into Yosemite from the north. They were built in competition, and finished at about the same time. Each fostered a number of small communities that serviced travelers on their way. One such community was Foresta also called Big Meadow, which sits on a bit of level ground just above where the road plunged over the cliffs into the valley below. The Old Coulterville Road ended at the Cascades on present-day route 140, where there was a bridge and a toll booth. Whole books have been written about the history of these two old roads.
This road was still in use in the 1950s, though I think it was one way then. Soon after that it became a hiking trail, but they stopped maintaining it after a while.
Route: Foresta is still private property, a small in-holding in the park. But our hike is not on private land. Access to this hike begins at the Foresta turn-off from the New Big Oak Flat Road, route 41, between the Valley and Crane Flat. Drive in on the access road that was built at the time of the new road, until it makes a sudden right angle bend, and the Foresta dumpsters are seen on the left. This is your intersection with the historic Old Coulterville Road. The dumpsters are set so as to obscure the continuation of the old road.
Just hike down it. Stay on the road, which isn't difficult. The only problem in most places is that trees and bushes are being allowed to grow up on the roadbed. Besides a few washouts, there are two obstacles to be overcome. At one point, the roadside has eroded away until the road is only a foot or less wide. A rather large lead-sheathed phone cable is exposed where the road used to be. You can walk on the dirt bank here, though novices may feel intimidated. Be careful. What is below you at this point is steep dirt, not a cliff, or was the last time I did this hike a couple of years ago. Perhaps a reader would care to give us an update on conditions.
The other obstacle is at the bottom of the route. The last bit of the road is lost in a field of large talus boulders. No problem: You can see the main highway below you. Just scramble down the talus towards the huge boulders next to the highway, and exit there. See photo link below. You reach the present highway about an eighth of a mile west of the Wildcat Creek bridge, and a quarter of a mile west of the bridge at the Cascades. There is parking on the south side of the highway at the hike's exit.
If you don't want to do a car spot, it's no great problem for the strongest member of the party to walk back up the trail to get your car. The round trip hike is 3 miles. The vertical drop is 1200 feet.
Disclaimer: This is not a maintained trail. Off-trail hiking is not encouraged by the rangers, and is at your own risk. Rocks can fall, and so can you. Don't go any place where you don't take full responsibility for your own safety and/or clumsiness.
Here are some historical references:
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/in_the_heart_of_the_sierras/
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/in_the_heart_of_the_sierras/20.html
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/auto_tour/
There are also references to the Coulterville route in the book: "The Big Oak Flat Road to Yosemite" by Irene Paden and Margaret Schlichtmann, Holmes Book Company 1959.
Here is a map of the route. Lots of older maps still show this as a road:
The bottom of the route is a half mile southwest of the bridge at the Cascades. The top of the route is at the Foresta dumpsters....if you can't see them, you are blind. The hike is 1.7 miles long, with a 1400 feet of vertical change. It should take about an hour, unless you have a photographer in the group.
Here is a distant view of the bottom of the route as seen from Wawona Road above the tunnel. May 2003. The big white patch at the bottom is white water in the Merced River, with Highway 140 alongside it. The power line is coming from the old Yosemite power house. It crosses the highway and then makes an abrupt left turn at the old road and disappears down river on its way to El Portal. The obvious road going diagonally up to the left is the old road. The huge boulder field is what ended the Coulterville Road., You can park a car on the highway next to the huge boulders, and climb the talus between them until you can spot the asphalt just above and to the west of the largest boulder.
Here is a view taken on the upper part of the trail. April 2004. There is still asphalt under those pine needles.
The bottom boulder pile. April 2004. On that occasion, we descended from Foresta, so this was the end of the hike.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2012 05:32PM by wherever.
