California State Route 120

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State Route 120

Defined by S&HC § 420, maintained by Caltrans

Length:

161 mi^[1] (259 km)
(Does not include the portion in Yosemite)

Formed:

1934

West end:

I-5 near Tracy

Major
junctions:

SR 99 near Manteca

SR 108 in Oakdale

SR 49 near Chinese Camp

East end:

US 6 at Benton

State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< SR 119		SR 121 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 120 (abbreviated 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.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System^[3].

1 Route description
2 History
3 Major intersections
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Route description

Tioga Pass Entrance Station

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
San Francisco (westbound; via I-5 and I-205) Manteca Modesto (via SR 99) Fresno (via SR 99) Oakdale Sonora {via SR 108) Yosemite Lee Vining

SR 120 as Tioga Pass Road in Yosemite National Park

SR 120 begins as a freeway intersecting Interstate 5 to extend Interstate 205 through Manteca. This section is referred to as "the 120 bypass".^{[citation needed]} 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 up into the Sierra Nevada mountains to Yosemite National Park. Once in Yosemite, it is known as Tioga Pass Road, and it retains that name as it travels through the Tioga Pass on its 45 mile journey to its intersection with U.S. Route 395, near Lee Vining. After a jog to the south along US 395, it continues east, skirting the south end of Mono Lake and providing access to the Mono Lake South Tufa, and ends at the intersection of U.S. Route 6 in 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.

[edit] 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.^[4] 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.^[5] The route from Manteca to Benton was marked as Sign Route 120 in 1934,^[6] and was soon extended west to Mossdale,^[7] replacing what had been part of U.S. Route 99W.^[8]

[edit] 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 county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile ^[9]^[1]^[10]	#^[11]	Destinations	Notes
San Joaquin SJ R0.49-21.18		R0.49	1	I-5 – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north)
		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 99 5.82	6	SR 99 south – Modesto, Fresno, Los Angeles	West end of SR 99 overlap
	Manteca		East end of freeway
	Manteca	99 6.65 6.20		SR 99 north / Yosemite Avenue – Sacramento	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 Road, McHenry Avenue)	West end of CR J7 overlap
	Escalon	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)	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-R56.15^[12]		8.19		CR J59 (La Grange Road)
				CR E15 (O'Byrnes Ferry Road)
		12.08		SR 108 east – Sonora	East end of SR 108 overlap
		15.52		SR 49 north	West end of SR 49 overlap
		R23.90		SR 49 south	East end of SR 49 overlap
		R39.46		CR J132
		R56.15	Yosemite National Park west boundary
Mariposa				Big Oak Flat Road
Mono MNO R0.00-58.99		0.00	Yosemite National Park east boundary
		R12.06 395 50.74		US 395 north	West end of US 395 overlap
		395 46.40		SR 158 (June Lake Loop)
	Tioga Pass Junction	395 45.96 13.37		US 395 south – Bishop	East end of US 395 overlap
	Benton	58.99		US 6 – Tonopah, Bishop