SAN ANDREAS FAULT – CALIFORNIA 58 TO CHOLAME (CALIFORNIA 41)

The best way to see this segment of the fault is to travel west on California 58 or the Carissa Hwy from the junction with Soda Lake Road – to Bitterwater Road.  Turn north onto Bitterwater Road.  On Google Map (below) you will see quite an array of solar energy panels.  

Following Bitterwater Road the road will veer towards the northeast and then back to the northwest.  The  fault will run along the zig-zag'd county boundary of San Luis Obispo and the Kern County lines.  This is some of the most remote country in California.

You are now in the Bitterwater Valley.  The road is running northwest right on top of the San Andreas Fault.  There will be farms dotted along the road and the fault line.  This segment of the fault ruptured during the Great Fort Tejon Earthquake of 1857.  Bitterwater Road will become Palo Prieto Road and then Annette Road then a left turn back onto Bitterwater Road.

This northern segment of Bitterwater will run west of the fault unto  you reach California 41/46.  At this point you can turn to the west if you’ve had enough of running the fault.  CA 41/46 will lead the motorist towards Paso Robles and California Hwy 101 (the El Camino Real).

Once you come to Paso Robles, look for many of the BBQ restaurants there and pick up a tasty Santa Maria Tri-Tip sandwich – a California delicacy.  Paso Robles is the half way point between Los Angeles and San Francisco if you take the 101.  Don't forget to get some gas.

Going east from Bitterwater Road through Cholame you can go back in time to September 30, 1955.  Actor James Dean is travelling west on California 46 from Los Angeles to Salinas to race his Porsche.  He never makes it to Salinas as he tragically is killed in a one car accident at this junction of California 46 and California 41, now known  as the James Dean Memorial Junction.  

Below:  a map of the Parkfield, Cholame and Carrizo Rupture Segments of the San Andreas.

The Carissa Hwy (Hwy 58) junction with Bitterwater Road.  Note again, the many solar power arrays.

A couple of fault segments near Cholame, California.

A seismologist working on top of the fault near Cholame.

A couple of pics:  James Dean and his Porsche and the James Dean Memorial at Hwy 41 and 46.