USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
Location: Kern County, about 12 miles southeast of the town of Lake Isabella, 165 miles from Los Angeles
Maps
| Auto Club | Kern County |
| Forest Service | Sequoia National Forest |
| USGS Topo | Claraville 7½ |
| Official HPS Maps |
TPO file - Save to your computer then open with National Geographic TOPO! |
| | Viewable JPG file - Approximately 1 meg |
| | GPX file or Google Earth KML file to
download to GPS units and other map software (How to use GPX and KML files) |
| | Routes as shown on
CalTopo using the above files (How to use CalTopo) |
Nearby Peaks: Bald Eagle Peak, Weldon Peak, Sorrell Peak
ROUTE 1
- Distance: 0.5 mile round trip on road and trail
- Gain: 200'
- Time: 0.5 hour round trip
- Rating: Class 1, easy
- Navigation: Easy
- Leader Rating: "O", normal conditions
Original: Cliff Black, October 1972
DRIVING ROUTE 1
(Piute Mountain Road approach)
Piute Mountain Road via Jawbone Canyon and Harris Grade, 160 miles from
Los Angeles.
This route variation is the recommended route for all vehicles in the guidebook Exploring
the Southern Sierra: West Side by J.C. Jenkins and Ruby Jenkins,
1995, and is very highly recommended for those drivers without 4WD or
high clearance vehicles.
- From the SR 14-SR 58 split just north of the town of
Mojave, take SR 14 northeast for 20 miles to the junction with Jawbone
Canyon Road.
- Turn left (west) on Jawbone Canyon Road (pavement ends at 4 miles)
for 18 miles on
well-graded road to a junction with Kelso Valley Road (dirt) that joins
from the north. Here you have a choice.
- Main Route:
Ordinary vehicles should note their odometers and head north on
Kelso Valley Road 7.4 miles to Piute Mountain Road (dirt).
Note your odometer, turn left onto Piute Mountain Road.
At 7.4 miles you see 29S04 on your left (southeast), marked
"Sorrell Peak". This is the turnoff for Sorrell
Peak.
At 9.7 miles you meet Jawbone Canyon Road coming in on your left
(south). This junction may also be reached using the following directions.
- Reset your odometer. Continue northwest on Piute Mountain Road through the
site of Claraville, continuing past a side junction on your right at 1.9
miles.
- At 4.4 miles, find a junction with 28S17 on your right
(north). Turn right (north).
- Reset your odometer. Drive in on 28S17
(shortly meeting and taking a major downhill fork on the right)
for 2.6 miles, or as far as feasible,
keeping right at forks, to a parking area where the road narrows and
becomes steep. Park here. 4WD vehicles may continue a short distance to
a second parking spot at the end of the drivable road.
HIKING ROUTE 1
- From either parking area, hike in as far as possible on the road.
- Pick up a use trail to the right side (east) that goes up through
rocks to the summit on the old lookout foundation.
- The register, when
present, is located on the western side of this foundation.
