Cypress Mountain Drive | Paso Robles, California [Off The Beaten Track Episode 12]
We explore Cypress Mountain Drive near Paso Robles, California!
This 6.7-mile dirt road runs from Klau Mine Road at the northern end to Santa Rosa Creek Road at the southern end. To the best of our knowledge, this is a county-maintained road running through a mix of private land and BLM land.
For interactive maps and GPX files visit: https://four.wheel.travel/cypress-mou...
For all tracks in the series: https://four.wheel.travel/off-the-bea...
The adjacent areas to the northern section are part of an EPA 'Superfund' site due to extensive Mercury mining at the Klau Mine and Buena Vista Mine from 1868 to 1970. This caused the release of Mercury compounds and Acid Mine Drainage into the water table, impacting Las Tablas Creek and Lake Nacimiento, making the entire area a Superfund site. No public access is permitted to either mine.
Mercury levels in the lake are deemed safe for human swimming and recreation, but there is an advisory against eating fish from the lake as fish are more susceptible to accumulating Mercury compounds in their system.
Cleanup work is ongoing, the vast majority of the mine buildings (on both sites) have been demolished and removed, and some removal and containment of tainted soils has already occurred.
Here is a link to the EPA site: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cur...
Both mines (which I think were connected underground) are now off-limits to the general public. Driving through the area is safe, as evidenced by the several residential properties dotted along the road.
Speaking of the road, it is a short but scenic drive! It is mostly gravel, with a reasonably steep ascent to the 2,200 ft summit. The road is signed 'ROAD CLOSED TO THROUGH TRAFFIC', but those signs do not appear to change seasonally and we encountered no hard closed barrier, nor was the road impassable in any way. Proceed at your own risk, but judging by the tire tracks plenty of vehicles travel this road.
We drove north to south, the ascent to the summit (2,200 ft) is fairly steep coming in this direction, and the road was very narrow in places. We kept an eye out for passing spots in case we encountered an oncoming vehicle (we didn't). It's also used by cyclists at times, be prepared to share the road!
The camping situation is unknown (comment below if you have any info). There is a location called Firebaugh 7X Ranch Camping at about the halfway point, but it is not clear whether this is available for booking by the public, or if it is a private campsite. Their published phone number is 805-238-1500. Let us know if you find out any more info! As noted, there are several BLM plots nearby, we don't know if camping is allowed and would suggest contacting the Bakersfield BLM Office (who administer this region for some reason):
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 661-391-6000
Images used in the video:
Klau Mine: https://www.mindat.org/loc-221008.html
Buena Vista Mine: https://www.adelaidahistoricalfoundat...
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▶ Chapters
0:00 Pre-intro
0:04 Intro and map sequence
0:34 Start of track at Klau Mine Road
5:21 Klau Creek Bridge
7:07 Firebaugh 7X Ranch Campground
8:59 North ascent
18:55 Approaching the summit
19:36 Views to Cambria coast
20:08 South descent to Santa Rosa Creek Road
The playlist for this series is here:
• Off The Beaten Track - Dirt-Roading C...
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▶ 3WA locations
Cypress Mountain Drive starts: https://w3w.co/manipulation.ambitious...
Cypress Mountain Drive ends: https://w3w.co/productivity.else.herring
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