Abandoned Roads and Town

[Trumper]

New Idria, California was once one of the largest quicksilver mining towns. It was named after Idrija, Slovenia.

It was abandoned in the 1970s and was then a live-in drug rehab center for a a decade or so.

It is currently abandoned, "closed," and the road in and through is not maintained.

Right next door is the Clear Creek area. This was a large, well-loved OHV area that the BLM closed about a year ago due to naturally occurring asbestos. There are many groups and organizations fighting to re-open the OHV park as the assessment was hasty, gave no cites for respiratory issues, and most felt it was a knee-jerk reaction by the BLM due to fear of future lawsuits.

Anyway, a group of local riders wanted to go check it out so off we went.

New Idria Roads & Town

...turn your speakers up!

[Furniture_lover]

thats would be a nice place if developeed..

[GB]

Nice one, thanks for the link

[slackmeyer]

Hey Trumper-
Is the county road through clear creek open these days? I wanted to ride from hollister to coalinga via that road.

I think I met you at Bryce Canyon last summer- R1200GS and a mohawk on the helmet? I was on a R11GS, headed back on the ET highway the next day.

Watched the first part of the video, very cool. Great video setup.

[BusyWeb]

Nice video....

[T O Double D]

Originally Posted by slackmeyer

Hey Trumper-
Is the county road through clear creek open these days? I wanted to ride from hollister to coalinga via that road.

I think I met you at Bryce Canyon last summer- R1200GS and a mohawk on the helmet? I was on a R11GS, headed back on the ET highway the next day.

Watched the first part of the video, very cool. Great video setup.

Just in case He doesn't see this... No the road through CC is closed, altough honestly you'd never know that it's closed due to a health hazard, as there are no signs stating as such. It just seems like the road is washed out or something, no gates, no warnings of dire health risks, nothing... By riding that road you risk a big ticket.

Cheers!

[WoodsChick]

Man, I really miss that place. Clear Creek has some of the best off-road riding in the entire state...



WoodsChick

[slackmeyer]

Originally Posted by T O Double D

Just in case He doesn't see this... No the road through CC is closed, altough honestly you'd never know that it's closed due to a health hazard, as there are no signs stating as such. It just seems like the road is washed out or something, no gates, no warnings of dire health risks, nothing... By riding that road you risk a big ticket.

Cheers!

Thanks Todd, that's what it seemed like from reading in other places. . . but some reports have the road being open sometimes. What a bummer about CC.

[Trumper]

Late reply:

I've been down to Idria 3x in the past two weeks. Every time I go, I see dirtbikes, 4x4s hauling dirtbikes, and assorted 4x4x with tons of camping gear going in to Clear Creek. I don't see them come back out either.

I've seen many folks on bikes and trucks and even the occasional 2wd truck coming out.

I think the road is "closed" as far as the BLM is concerned, but there's not enforcement, rumors of $1,000 Federal Tickets abound though.

I don't know of, or haven't heard of, anyone ever getting one.

You do need to investigate mining claims or had an emergency or heard there was a public road repair event going on in there, right?

p.s. The road is def a challenge in places. I came back out about a mile in when it narrowed to about 2 feet wide and had a shallow stream bed traversing back and forth. I know several who have gone through on GS/GSAs lately though. More skilled than I....