Driving down CA 99 from Stockton earlier this week (I had an errand to do in Modesto...) I detoured off the 99 to take CA 165 to I-5 instead of remaining on the slower 99 for the rest of the trip south. What a pleasant surprise! Most of the other 99-5 cross-valley routes are fairly dull, dusty sorts of drives, but the 165 takes you through part of the San Luis National Wildlife Reserve. 

Driving down CA 99 from Stockton earlier this week (I had an errand to do in Modesto...) I detoured off the 99 to take CA 165 to I-5 instead of remaining on the slower 99 for the rest of the trip south. What a pleasant surprise! Most of the other 99-5 cross-valley routes are fairly dull, dusty sorts of drives, but the 165 takes you through part of the San Luis National Wildlife Reserve. Yes, you wouldn't think there'd be much more than large agriculture between 99 and 5 all the way up the valley, but beginning in 1966 significant efforts were undertaken in the western part of Merced County to reclaim the grasslands and wetlands of the region. The first part of the San Luis NWR you encounter driving south on 165 from 99 is the Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge and it looks quite a bit like my favorite National Grasslands area, the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands in eastern Wyoming. The San Luis NWR also contains three smaller sub-refuges and the East Bear Creek unit (created in 1993) happens to sit right next to CA 165. So I pulled off the lightly travelled highway and took the 10 minute/25mph "auto tour." Since the entire area is so nice, you don't feel like you're stuck amidst a large industrial area (even though you are, at some level), and I spotted all kinds of birds. I'm not a birder so I had no real idea what I was looking at but the pleasant surprise of it all made up for my lack of detailed knowledge. Anyway, the next time you're driving along I-5 or CA 99, take an hour and detour along the 165. It's a great trip.

To my disappointment, I didn't have my camera with me, so I don't have pictures of the reserves. Neither do I have any pictures of the CA 165 signs, including the rare appearance of an END shield at the highway's southern terminus with I-5 outside of Los Banos. D'oh!

Update 5/25/05: After being chastised by this weirdo (see the comments), I happened to have the opportunity to drive CA 165 again yesterday. You'll all be happy to know that I took plenty of pictures this time... :)