State Scenic Highway 174 174
State Scenic Highway 174 is a scenic drive in California. Within California it covers roughly 3 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along State Scenic Highway 174 with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
State Scenic Highway 174 is a two-lane, 13-mile road in the western Sierra Nevada foothills connecting Colfax to Grass Valley. It runs from Interstate 80 at Colfax to State Routes 20 and 49 in Grass Valley, crossing the Bear River beside a 1924 concrete arch bridge along the way. In 1988, Nevada County asked the state legislature to make the unincorporated portion of the highway, between the county line and the Grass Valley city limits, eligible for California's State Scenic Highway System, a request granted in 1991. Unlike most eligible routes, which simply await a local corridor protection plan, Route 174's path to official designation has been actively blocked by area property owners concerned that scenic-highway status could restrict what they can do with land along the corridor. That standoff has left the road eligible but explicitly not designated more than three decades later, a rare case where local opposition, rather than bureaucratic delay, is the reason.
- Colfax to Grass Valley, ~13 miles
- 1924 concrete arch bridge over Bear River
- eligible since 1991 (Nevada County request, 1988)
- designation blocked by local property owners
- western Sierra Nevada foothills
Plan a drive on State Scenic Highway 174 →
About this drive
This is a scenic drive — a road worth taking for the views and the journey itself rather than the quickest line between two points.
Where to Stay along State Scenic Highway 174
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of State Scenic Highway 174.
Campsite and lodging links are affiliate links — booking through them may earn Road Sorties a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Recreation.gov links are not affiliate links.