Beasore Rd - Mammoth Pool Loop

Beasore Rd is found east of Oakhurst, CA across the road from the Bass Lake Resort.

Better known as the Mammoth Pool Loop, Beasore Road flows east through a relentless series of mountain S-curves, climbing into the Sierra Nevada Mountains over a low 7300 ft summit for 35 miles toward Clover Meadow. Dead end road. Well, sort of.

In the mid-20th century, there was a massive push to build a paved highway connecting North Fork, CA (via the Minarets Road/Beasore area) directly across the Sierra Crest to Mammoth on the eastern side. It would have created a low-elevation (relatively speaking) year-round crossing between the Central Valley and Highway 395, effectively bridging the 150-mile north-south gap between Tioga Pass (Hwy 120) and Sherman Pass. Then Governor Ronald Reagan stopped the building of the pass in 1972 enabling this central region of the Sierra Nevada Range to remain wilderness. Thus, the dead end. Sort of.

About 14 miles in from Bass Lake, you’ll reach the historic Jones Store. Opened nearly 100 years ago, it’s a required stop for bikers—there’s no gas, but they serve up great sandwiches, snacks, and cold drinks.

Rode Beasore Rd last weekend and made it to 7,000 feet before the Sierra snow pack turned me around about 12 miles in. So close to the 7,300-foot summit! The snow is melting fast so you’ll likely have better luck than I did if you give it a few more weeks.

Think Beasore Road is a dead end if you want to stay on the pavement? Think again.

An easily-missed, single-lane paved forest road (FR 6S01) provides a 16-mile paved north-south connection (pictured) over to Mammoth Pool Rd, also known as the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway. This infrastructure was built for the Mammoth Pool Reservoir project, completed in 1959.

From there, you can double back toward North Fork on the two-lane endless curvy pavement of the Scenic Byway to complete the loop from Bass Lake Resort to North Fork.

Whatever you do, don't miss the Mile High Vista—it offers a mile-high perspective of the Mammoth Pool Reservoir built on the San Joaquin River tucked deep in the canyon below, plus views of granite domes in the distance.