Paved roads that is...

Is it Onyx Summit? I can't find anything conclusive? The Mount Pinos Noric Hut is just shy of Onyx Summit at 8300ft and paved to the door. Isn't there anything higher?

If private dirt roads are included I think the roads at Baldy ski area top out at about 8600 feet.

The road to the top of Toro Mountain in Riverside County reaches 8,718 feet. It's dirt, and private for the last few hundred feet. It might be the highest road in SoCal overall.

There's not much elsewhere to look: the only plausible candidate areas would be near Mts San Antonio, Jacinto or Gorgonio, or nearby peaks.

for dirt roads, there's a bunch around san gorgonio...this one seems to go to about 8760'

edit: and there's one about 3 miles east that goes up to 9000'

I drove to Onyx Peak a few weeks ago on forest service road 1N01. The peak is 9113.

Here's another possibility. Onyx Peak would be the highest summit, but I'd guess the highest point on a road is probably on dirt road 2N93 between Sugarloaf Peak and the Onyx Summit area of Hwy 38, near Wildhorse Meadows. I was MTBing on 2N93 a few summers ago, stopped there, and thought it was equal or above Onyx Peak's height. Can't find a map right now to verify what it is . . . grrrr! .

Sherman Pass - 9100'
FS 21S03 - ~8900' at Blackrock trailhead

EDIT: If you stretch the definition of SoCal to include Lone Pine, then Horseshoe Meadow Road tops at 10,100'.

Tom Kenney wrote:Sherman Pass - 9100'
FS 21S03 - ~8900' at Blackrock trailhead

EDIT: If you stretch the definition of SoCal to include Lone Pine, then Horseshoe Meadow Road tops at 10,100'.

That's cheating and bordering on sacrilegious. If Chief catches you calling The Sierra (even it's southern sections) part of Southern California you're going to feel the wrath of chengis!

goldenhopper wrote:That's cheating and bordering on sacrilegious. If Chief catches you calling The Sierra (even it's southern sections) part of Southern California you're going to feel the wrath of chengis!

HAA HAAAA!!!!

Wouldn't wanna tick off the Chief...I hear he has been building a secret army of wolverines in some lake basin out of Pine Creek.
(JK, Chief! Please don't drop a loaded 'sandwich bag' on me!!!)

The way I see it, if I can drive there in less than 4 hours (and I drove SLOW!), it's still SoCal.

Well, there is the "Southern Sierra" and that includes Poderosa/Needles south which could be considered the northern most part of SoCal.

LP & CottonWood Lakes T/H would be considered the "Central Sierra" and located in Central California. That includes Rock Creek Rd that ends at Mosquito Flats and that is at 10,203'. I believe that is the highest "paved" road in all of California.

The Chief wrote:Well, there is the "Southern Sierra" and that includes Poderosa/Needles south which could be considered the northern most part of SoCal.

LP & CottonWood Lakes T/H would be considered the "Central Sierra" and located in Central California. That includes Rock Creek Rd that ends at Mosquito Flats and that is at 10,203'. I believe that is the highest "paved" road in all of California.

Mosquito Flat is the highest paved road in California as far a I could find. I always thought of Tejon Pass as the start of Central Cal on the west side and anything past Ridgecrest on the east side, though one could make an argument for Mojave.

goldenhopper wrote:Mosquito Flat is the highest paved road in California as far a I could find. I always thought of Tejon Pass as the start of Central Cal on the west side and anything past Ridgecrest on the east side, though one could make an argument for Mojave.

Concur!!!

Is White Mountain the highest unpaved road in California ?

Palisades79 wrote:Is White Mountain the highest unpaved road in California ?

It has to be. White Mountain road tops out at 11,680 ft. I can't think of anything that might even come close? In Colorado they love to carve up peaks with roads; it makes it easier to summit! None of that nonsense here in Cali though.

goldenhopper wrote:

Palisades79 wrote:Is White Mountain the highest unpaved road in California ?

It has to be. White Mountain road tops out at 11,680 ft. I can't think of anything that might even come close? In Colorado they love to carve up peaks with roads; it makes it easier to summit! None of that nonsense here in Cali though.

The tree huggers out here would have a fit if they did!