Everything about California State Route 20 totally explained
State Route 20 (SR 20) is a
state highway in the northern central region of the
U.S. state of
California, running east-west across the state north of
Sacramento. Its west end is at
SR 1 in
Fort Bragg, from where it heads east past
Clear Lake,
Colusa,
Yuba City,
Marysville, and
Nevada City to
I-80 near
Emigrant Gap, where eastbound traffic can continue on other routes to
Lake Tahoe or
Nevada. The highway east of US 101 is part of the
California Freeway and Expressway System, although it's mostly a two-lane surface road. The entire route is on the
Interregional Road System, a highway system that connects major economic centers of the state, and has been selected by the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) as a High Emphasis Route and Focus Route from US 101 to
SR 29 and
SR 53 to I-80, with the designated corridor following SR 29 and SR 53 around the south side of Clear Lake. It is also eligible for the
State Scenic Highway System from SR 1 to
SR 16 and
SR 49 to I-80, and has been designated as such for 6 miles (10 km) near the east end; this is part of the federally-designated
Yuba-Donner Scenic Byway, a
National Scenic Byway that uses SR 20 east of SR 49.
Route description
State Route 20 begins at
SR 1 in southern
Fort Bragg, under a mile (1/2 km) from the
Pacific Ocean. It heads east, quickly climbing into the
Mendocino Range along a ridge and crossing through
Dunlap Pass. The highway continues to rise alongside the
North Fork Big River and tributaries, crossing another summit and then descending to
Willits in the
Little Lake Valley via
Broaddus Creek. An
overlap with
US 101 begins in Willits and heads southeasterly to
Calpella, north of
Ukiah in the
Redwood Valley. There SR 20 turns east again, crossing the
Russian River, passing the north shore of
Lake Mendocino, and rising to a summit via the
East Fork Russian River and
Cold Creek. The roadway again descends alongside the
Blue Lakes and
Scotts Creek to the junction with
SR 29 and the settlement of
Upper Lake in the
Clear Lake Basin. SR 20 closely follows the northeast shore of Clear Lake, staying right above the water line to avoid the adjacent hills. Where the lake ends, SR 20 continues east, intersecting
SR 53 and then following the
North Fork Cache Creek and tributaries to the
Lake-
Colusa County line. During its final descent into the
Sacramento Valley, SR 20 intersects
SR 16 and curves north and back east, entering the valley via
Salt Creek.
Once it enters the flat Sacramento Valley, SR 20 takes a generally straight path, crossing
I-5 in
Williams, overlapping
SR 45 near the west bank of the
Sacramento River southeast from
Colusa, and then turning back east to cross the Sacramento River and
Sutter Bypass on its way to
Yuba City. The route crosses
SR 99 west of central Yuba City, and runs east through northern Yuba City to the
Feather River, which it crosses on the
10th Street Bridge into
Marysville. Within the central part of that city, SR 20 makes several turns, first turning south from 10th Street onto E Street, then east on 9th Street (overlapping
SR 70), north on B Street, and east on 12th Street (splitting from SR 70). The highway leaves Marysville to the northeast, paralleling the
Yuba River on its north side as it enters the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada. Later a
turnpike was built here by the same company that opened the
Pacific Turnpike (Culbertson Road and Bowman Lake Road between
Dutch Flat and
Bowman Lake) in 1864.
By the end of the 1910s, a passable
dirt and
gravel road connected Ukiah and Nevada City via the south side of
Clear Lake and Marysville. The portion between
Lower Lake and
Wilbur Springs was impassable in wet weather, at which times the
Bartlett Springs and Bear Valley Toll-road via Upper Lake and
Bartlett Springs was available for $1.50 each way or $2.50 round trip. This route generally followed the present SR 20, except around Clear Lake and between Marysville and
Rough and Ready (where it used Spenceville Road). Beyond Nevada City to Emigrant Gap, the old turnpike wasn't passable; instead the present
SR 174 was available for eastward drivers. Between Williams and Colusa, the road was paved in
concrete, as it had been added to the state highway system as part of the first (1910)
bond issue, specifically as
Route 15, connecting the west Sacramento Valley trunk (
Route 7, now I-5) with the
county seat of Colusa. creating what was known as the
Tahoe-Ukiah Highway, connecting Ukiah and
Lake Tahoe in combination with
Route 37 (now I-80) and
Route 38 (now
SR 89). The law that defined the extension simply stated that it would connect "Ukiah to Tahoe City"; the state decided in September 1925 that it would run the highway along the north shore of Clear Lake, combining with the planned
Rumsey-Lower Lake Highway (
Route 50, now SR 53 and SR 16) east to Wilbur Springs. With the completion of this segment in mid-1932, the highway was ready for heavy travel, and became
Sign Route 20 in 1934 as part of the initial signed state route system.
In 1953, the legislature added an extension of Route 15 from US 101 at Willits (north of Ukiah) west to SR 1 near Fort Bragg. This was constructed (over an existing
county road) and became part of Sign Route 20 prior to 1964, when the Route 20 designation was legislatively adopted. Subsequent improvements include the construction of the
Golden Center Freeway, connecting Grass Valley with Nevada City, in the late 1960s, and a new alignment of SR 20 west from Grass Valley, bypassing Rough and Ready, in the mid-1980s.
!
#
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=6|
MendocinoMEN R0.00-44.11
|
Fort Bragg
|R0.00
|
|
|
|-
|
Willits
|R33.16
101 46.36
|
|
|West end of US 101 overlap
|-
|
|
101 R32.63
|557
|West Road
|Interchange
|-
|
Calpella
|
101 30.83
33.22
|
|
|East end of US 101 overlap; interchange
|-
|
|33.77
|
|
Redwood Valley Rancheria
|Interchange
|-
|
|R38.05
|
|Potter Valley Road –
Lake Pillsbury
|
|-
|rowspan=8|
LakeLAK 0.00-46.48
|
|3.63
|
|Scotts Valley Road
|
|-
|
|8.32
|
| – West Shore Resorts,
Lakeport,
Kelseyville
|
|-
|
Upper Lake
|8.79
|
|Main Street –
Upper Lake Business District, Ranger Station,
Lake Pillsbury
|
|-
|
|12.20
|
|Lakeport Cutoff
|
|-
|
|15
|
|Bartlett Springs Road –
Bartlett Springs,
Hough Springs
|
|-
|
|30
|
|Sulphur Bank Road –
Elem Indian Colony
|
|-
|
|31.62
|
|
|
|-
|
|34
|
|New Long Valley Road –
Spring Valley
|-
|rowspan=8|
ColusaCOL 0.00-R39.34
|
Wilbur Springs
|3.45
|
|
|
|-
|
|13
|
|Leesville Road
|
|-
|rowspan=4|
Williams
|T20.56
|
|
|
|-
|R21.85
|
|Old Highway 99W, 7th Street (
Bus. 5)
|Interchange; former
US 99W
|-
|R22.12
|
|
|Interchange
|-
|T23.19
|
|
|
|-
|
Colusa
|31.09
|
|
|West end of SR 45 overlap
|-
|
|36.79
|
|
|East end of SR 45 overlap
|-
|rowspan=3|
SutterSUT R0.00-17.06
|rowspan=3|
Yuba City
|15.57
|
|
|
|-
|16.84
|
|Sutter Street
|Interchange
|-
!rowspan=2 colspan=5|10th Street Bridge over the
Feather River
|-
|rowspan=4|
YubaYUB 0.00-21.67
|rowspan=3|
Marysville
|-
|0.99
|
||
|West end of SR 70 overlap
|-
|1.47
|
|
|East end of SR 70 overlap
|-
|
|13.27
|
|
|
|-
|rowspan=13|
NevadaNEV 0.00-45.66
|
|R4.65
|
|Pleasant Valley Road
|
|-
|rowspan=5|
Grass Valley
|R12.16
|
|McCourtney Road, Mill Street
|Interchange
|-
|R12.24
|
|
|West end of SR 49 overlap; interchange
|-
!colspan=4|West end of freeway
|-
|R12.92
|182A
|
|
|-
|R13.61
|182B
|Idaho Maryland Road, East Main Street –
Grass Valley
|
|-
|
|R14.80
|183
|Brunswick Road
|
|-
|
|R15.92
|185A
|Gold Flat Road, Ridge Road
|Signed as exit 185 westbound
|-
|rowspan=4|
Nevada City
|R16.74
|185B
|Sacramento Street –
Nevada City
|Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
|-
|R16.99-
R17.24
|186
|Broad Street, Coyote Street –
Nevada City
|
|-
!colspan=4|East end of freeway
|-
|R17.40
|
|
|East end of SR 49 overlap
|-
|
|45.66
|
|,
Reno
|Interchange
|}
Further Information
Get more info on 'California State Route 20'.
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