California State Route 120

State Route 120
Route information
Defined by S&HC § 420
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	152.562 mi[1] (246 km) (Does not include the portion in Yosemite)
Existed:	1934 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-5 near Tracy
	SR 99 near Manteca SR 108 in Oakdale SR 49 near Chinese Camp
East end:	US 6 at Benton
Highway system
State highways in California(list • pre-1964) History • Unconstructed • Deleted • Freeway • Scenic ← SR 119 SR 121 →

State Route 120 (SR 120), in northern California, runs between the Central Valley near Manteca, through Yosemite National Park, and ends at U.S. Route 6 in Mono County.

Route description

Tioga Pass Entrance Station

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System.^[3] However, it is not officially designated by Caltrans as a scenic highway.^[4]

SR 120 as Tioga Road by Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park

SR 120 begins as a freeway intersecting Interstate 5 to extend Interstate 205 through Manteca. In east Manteca the freeway ends at SR 99 and becomes a highway which continues to head east through Escalon, Oakdale and other various small towns. East of Oakdale there are no highly populated areas for 90 miles (144 km) as it heads into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and into Yosemite National Park. After leaving Crane Flat within Yosemite, it is known as Tioga Pass Road,^[5] and it retains that name as it travels through Tuolumne Meadows and over Tioga Pass on its 59-mile (95 km) journey to its intersection with U.S. Route 395, at Lee Vining. After a jog to the south along US 395, it continues east as the Mono Mills Road,^[6] skirting the south end of Mono Lake and providing access to the Mono Lake South Tufa as well as the historical site of Mono Mills before cresting Sagehen Summit and ending with the intersection of U.S. Route 6 at Benton. Both the portions through Yosemite National Park and the stretch south of Mono Lake are subject to winter closure. Usually the highway is open through Tioga Pass by the Memorial Day weekend at the end of May, and typically closes for the winter sometime in November.

History

During the Gold Rush, SR 120 was originally known as Big Oak Flat Road, after the village of Big Oak Flat through which it passes in the Sierra foothills. It was a pack trail from Stockton which became popular with prospectors about 1849. By 1874 it was a wagon road which extended to the Yosemite Valley.

In 1921, the California State Assembly authorized San Joaquin County to transfer the county road connecting Manteca with then-Route 5 (now I-5) at Mossdale to the state.^[7] It was numbered Route 66, as was a 1933 extension from Manteca east to Route 13 in Oakdale. Also in 1933, Route 40 was extended east from Mono Lake to Route 76 (US 6) at Benton.^[8] The route from Manteca to Benton was marked as Sign Route 120 in 1934,^[9] and was soon extended west to Mossdale,^[10] replacing what had been part of U.S. Route 99W.^[11]

Major intersections

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at some county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile [1][12][13]	Exit [14]	Destinations	Notes
San Joaquin SJ R0.49-21.18		R0.49	1	I-5 – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Stockton, Sacramento	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north); former US 50 west
		R1.33	1C	Yosemite Avenue	Signed as exit 1 eastbound
	Manteca	R3.32	3	Airport Way (CR J3) – Sharpe Depot
		R4.31	4	Union Road
		R5.31	5	South Main Street
		T6.87 5.82[N 1]	6	SR 99 south – Modesto, Fresno, Los Angeles	West end of SR 99 overlap
	Manteca	East end of freeway on SR 99
		6.65[N 1] 6.20		SR 99 north / Yosemite Avenue – Sacramento, Central Manteca	Interchange; east end of SR 99 overlap
		8.84		CR J5 (Jack Tone Road)
		11.64		French Camp Road
	Escalon			CR J6 / CR J7 north (Escalon-Bellota Road, McHenry Avenue) – Farmington, Modesto	West end of CR J7 overlap
		R16.92		CR J7 south (Main Street) / Kern Street	East end of CR J7 overlap
Stanislaus STA 0.00-T18.17		3.16		CR J9 north (Valley Home Road) – Valley Home	West end of CR J9 overlap
				CR J14 north (Twenty-Six Mile Road)	West end of CR J14 overlap
	Oakdale	5.12		SR 108 west (F Street) / CR J9 / CR J14 south (Yosemite Avenue) – Modesto	West end of SR 108 overlap; east end of CR J9 / CR J14 overlap
Tuolumne TUO R0.00-R41.52		8.19		CR J59 (La Grange Road) – La Grange, Merced
				CR E15 (O'Byrnes Ferry Road) – Copperopolis
		12.08		SR 108 east – Sonora	East end of SR 108 overlap
	Chinese Camp	15.52		SR 49 north – Sonora	West end of SR 49 overlap
		R23.90		SR 49 south – Coulterville, Mariposa	East end of SR 49 overlap
	Groveland			Ferretti Road – Pine Mountain Lake
	Buck Meadows	R39.46		CR J132 (Smith Station Road, Greeley Hill Road) to SR 132 – Coulterville, Merced
	West end of state maintenance at Yosemite National Park west boundary
Mariposa MPA R41.52-43.75	Crane Flat Campground			To SR 41 / SR 140 / Big Oak Flat Road – Yosemite Valley	SR 120 subject to winter closure from Crane Flat to Lee Vining
Tuolumne TUO 43.75-R56.15	No junctions
	East end of state maintenance at Yosemite National Park east boundary
Mono MNO R0.00-58.99
	Lee Vining	R12.06 50.74[N 2]		US 395 north / Airport Road – Lee Vining, Reno	West end of US 395 overlap
	June Lake Loop North Junction	46.40[N 2]		SR 158 south – June Lake	SR 158 subject to winter closure from North Junction to Silver Lake
	Mono Mills Junction	45.96[N 2] 13.37		US 395 south – Bishop	East end of US 395 overlap; SR 120 subject to winter closure from Mono Mills to Benton Crossing Road
	Benton	58.99		US 6 – Tonopah, Bishop
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

1. ^ ^{a b} Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along SR 99 rather than SR 120.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along US 395 rather than SR 120.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed February 2008
2. ^ CA Codes (shc:250-257)
3. ^ CA Codes (shc:260-284)
4. ^ "Officially Designated State Scenic Highways and Historic Parkways". California Department of Transportation. December 7, 2007. http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LandArch/scenic_highways/. Retrieved June 23, 2011. 
5. ^ Trexler, Keith A, "The Tioga Road a History 1883-1961" (1961, 1980)
6. ^ Kaiser, Cameron, "Floodgap Roadgap's Summer of 6"
7. ^ Statutes 1921 p. 1627: State highway in San Joaquin County
8. ^ California Department of Transportation, State Highway Routes: Selected Information, 1994 with 1995 revisions
9. ^ State Routes will be Numbered and Marked with Distinctive Bear Signs, California Highways and Public Works, August 1934
10. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, California, 1942
11. ^ American Association of State Highway Officials, log of U.S. Highways, American Highways, ca. 1932
12. ^ California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
13. ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
14. ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, SR-120 Eastbound and SR-120 Westbound, accessed February 2008

• Map: "Stanislaus National Forest, California," U.S. Forest Service, 1979.

External links

• Caltrans: Route 120 Road Conditions
• Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the Yosemite National Park) conditions