It was time again – I needed to get into the Jeep and get up into the hills – but where to go? Well I have been wanting to go to a little place in Eastern Tulare County called California Hot Springs so why not? My Great Grandfather Bill Clingan was posted to the town of California Hot Springs back around 1911 as a US Forest Ranger and looking on Google Maps it was only about a 2 hour drive. Leave early and back by 1 or so – easy peasy!
Saturday I grabbed my hat and the camera and was out the door and out of the gas station by 9:30 am – not early but not bad.
Heading South down Highway 99 from Fresno to the town of Earlimart (1 hr). Turning East onto Sierra Ave I traveled along a straight shot of a road towards the foothills. BTW there were no signs for the Hot Springs until about halfway through this part of the trip. Up into the foot hills finally – one or two restaurants/bars and markets here and there but onward to California Hot Springs (1 hr).
East along Sierra Ave/ Ave 56 – and yes I know I need to clean my windshield! 
Looks interesting but too bad they looked closed. 
Finally up in the foothills traveling East along Hot Springs Rd. 
Flowers carpeting the hills.
Initially I was going to stay up at the Hot Springs for an hour or so then come back home…I did take a break and go inside – nice old timey vibe – ice cream, small gift shop, sodas and stuff for sale, really a cool place. They also have a few campgrounds in the area, a small post office, senior center, RV park, etc. I wanted to check out the Forest Service HQ to see if it looked anything like the photos I have but it was a completely different building.
As I was driving towards the USFS HQ I decided to see where the road went from here and kept driving East until I came to a split in the road – either Pine Flat or Trail of 100 Giants…right seemed easier at the moment so Pine Flat it was!
Pine Flat was just a few minutes down the road and seems to be a vacation community of cabins and a general store – people were out walking the roads, kids in shorts running around and definitely cooler temps and greener than the valley floor. Of course driving through Pine Flat I came to the end of the paved road – I behaved myself and turned around after only 2 miles but the dirt road definitely kept going deeper into the hills.
I backtracked through Pine Flat to the turnoff to the Trail of 100 Giants…I took Mountain Road 50 upwards and deeper into the mountains (30 min). The view West from the road back towards the valley was awesome – each turn in the road taking you higher and higher and the view getting more expansive. Eventually I came the Great Western Divide Highway and the turnoff to the Trail of 100 Giants.
Looking West from Mtn Rd 50 back towards the San Joaquin Valley 
Higher up on the road looking West 
I turned North following the signs towards the “Trail of 100 Giants” – I had to find out what that was!! Sadly when I got there both parking lots were full and all along the side of the roadway were cars everywhere!! No lack of tourists this day!
Oh well…the road led on towards Camp Nelson which was another place my Great Grandfather had frequented. Redwood and Pine line the Great Western Divide Highway – vistas to die for – the Needles – and of course a few dirt roads leading off the main road.
One of those roads – I think it was Rd. 21S06 – ate up a good hour of pictures and exploring and two dead ends. Lots of little camp sites scattered throughout the area and all of them had campers.
Finally got my shot of the Needles – not as good as the view from the Highway but still good. 
Road doesn’t end just yet!! 
NOW the road ends!
After about 2.5ish hours and several small shortly after the road turning into Highway 190 I inadvertently blew past the turnoff to Camp Nelson darn it!!!
For those of you who have never traveled down Highway 190 from the Great Western Divide Highway it is not for anyone with a weak stomach! One of the twistiest roads I have been on as it curves and switchbacks down the North side of the Tule River Gorge winding its way down to the town of Springville. Only 30 minutes on the map from Camp Nelson to Springville but BOY did it feel longer!
190 actually runs underneath a flume which dates back to 1959. 
looking back east up the gorge 
another view towards the East
After Springville it’s a fairly strait shot across the valley past Lake Success, through Porterville and finally to Tipton and Highway 99. Another Hour for that portion.
Driving by Lake Success 
Dust-devil on the valley floor.
Tipton to home – another hour (with a stop at Bravo Farms for Cheese!!!).
There are a lot of things I did not stop for – mainly on the back half of the day – hard to fit everything into a one day trip. Took 151 photos! Left the house at 9:30 in the morning and got back around 5 pm – long day but definitely worth it!