San Benito Mountain II Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The cache is located at San Benito Mountain Summit, the highest point of San Benito County. You will need to travel through long dirt roads to get to the summit. Not recommended in the rainy season. 2 permits are required to access this cache: 1) Vehicle permit, 2) Serpentine ACEC permit. The permits can be obtained here.
Before I was a geocacher, my hobby was California county highpointing. I visited San Benito Mountain, the highest point of San Benito County, in 2000. I remember this location was unique in several ways: [1] Although the location is remote, there is a dirt road all the way to the summit. With the right vehicle, a drive-up to the summit is possible. [2] San Benito Mountain is known for its many minerals, including serpentine, cinnabar (the former New Idria mercury mine is located nearby), the rare benitoite (it is only found here), and others. [3] San Benito Mountain is also known for naturally occuring Asbestos, a known health hazard. Although the exposure level is probably low, you have been warned!
In dry season, the dirt roads are navigable by many motorized vehicles, including [1] A high clearance vehicle (4x4 not needed, but would be helpful). [2] ATV or dirt bike. [3] An average car, but you don't mind hitting the underside every now and then. Otherwise, you are looking at a very long hike or mountain-bike ride to the summit. I would not recommend coming here in the rain season, when the road could be muddy and stream crossing can be difficult.
To get to the San Benito Mountain summit, you will need to enter the Clear Creek OHV Management Area, managed by BLM. You can download a map of the area here . From the west near King City/Panoche, take the Clear Creek Road (R001) from Coalinga road, N 36 21.496 W 120 47.232. From the north, take the Clear Creek Road (also R001) starting from the end of New Idria road, N 36 25.021 W 120 40.476. Follow R001 until the intersection with R011 (N 36 23.892 W 120 40.549). Take R011 and follow until N 36 22.247 W 120 37.854, then turn right to R013, which leads to the summit. There should be several signs directing you to the summit. Good descriptions can be found from the now-archived virtual cache "San Benito 5241: California County Highpoints", waypoint GC88AC. Other good resources are California County Summits by Gary Suttle and County Highpointers website.
Note added: 10/29/11: Due to closure of the OHV area, getting to the cache is now much more difficult. Updated the Difficulty/Terrain from 1.5/3.5 to 4.5/4.5 accordingly.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)