To reach Briceburg and the Merced River Trail, I drove up Hwy 140 north about 15 miles from Mariposa to the Briceburg Visitor Center at the Merced Wild & Scenic River. You can’t miss the beautiful old stone building that William M. Brice built in 1926 as Highway 140 into Yosemite was being built. Originally it was a general store for locals and tourist. Gasoline pumps were later added, and it also provided lodging and had a soda fountain over the years. The BLM acquired the property in the 1980’s and refurbished the building to its near-original condition to be used as a visitor center. The Visitor Center is currently closed and expected to reopen the first weekend of May. After driving by the Visitor Center, I parked in the parking area along the Merced River where the restroom is located and walked over the suspension bridge. They don’t recommend that trailers over 18 feet and large RV’s cross the suspension bridge. Daily parking is free, but a camping fee of $10 per night applies at any of the three campgrounds. Restrooms are available at the campgrounds. Rattlesnakes can be out so I keep my eyes open for them. This hike is always a good workout but I prefer to do it on a cooler day. In the morning, my tracks were the first fresh tracks on the road and I was able to pick out many snake tracks on the dirt road in the switchback area. The road is rutted and can have slides and rocks on it. To me, it is a high clearance 4WD road and that is what they recommend. I cannot share good intel on driving or biking this road and if this something you are interested in, there are blogs and websites that include detailed information related to this. I bet that once the Visitor Center is open, they can also help on that. 0 COMMENTS