# California State Route 3

State Route 3 (SR 3) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves Trinity and Siskiyou counties. It runs from SR 36 north along the shore of Trinity Lake, Fort Jones and Etna. The route then approaches Yreka, intersecting with Interstate 5 (I-5), and turns east to Montague. The road was numbered SR 3 in 1964, and most of it has been part of the state highway system since 1933.

## Route description

SR 3 begins at the junction with SR 36 south of the town of Peanut in Trinity County. SR 3 is also known as Bramlot Road from its southern terminus to Hayfork. This stretch of road through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest parallels the Hayfork River. Once SR 3 reaches the town of Hayfork, it travels along Hyampom Road east and snakes through the mountains to Douglas City and the junction with SR 299. From there, SR 3 runs concurrently with SR 299 north to the town of Weaverville. SR 3 then separates from SR 299, providing access to the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area and Trinity Dam along Lewiston Lake.
SR 3 passes through the towns of Covington Mill, Trinity Center, and Wyntoon before paralleling the Trinity River and Trinity Mountains as Weaverville-Scott Mountain Road and crossing the Scott Mountains and the Pacific Crest Trail into Siskiyou County.
In Siskiyou County, SR 3 passes through Callahan, Etna, Greenview, and Fort Jones as it turns northeast to intersect with Interstate 5 in Yreka. At this point, SR 263 continues in the northerly direction towards SR 96; SR 3 turns east to its northern terminus in the incorporated city of Montague.
SR 3 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and a portion near the northern terminus is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. SR 3 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, and is officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation for its entire length, meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.
The segment of SR 3 from Weaverville to Gazelle Callahan Road forms part of the Trinity Heritage Scenic Byway, a National Forest Scenic Byway.
In 2014, SR 3 had an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 135 at U.S. Forest Service Road, and 10,000 at Moonlit Oaks Avenue, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway.

## History

The short piece from SR 36 north to Peanut was added to the state highway system in 1907 as part of the Peanut Road, which became Route 35 in 1917. Route 35 was extended north from Peanut to Route 20 (SR 299) near Douglas City in 1933, and simultaneously a new Route 82 was created, running from Route 3 (I-5) in the Yreka area southwest to Etna and east to Montague. The gap between Douglas City and Etna was filled in 1959 with an extension of Route 82 south to Route 20 near Weaverville; at the same time, the portion between Weaverville and Yreka was added to the California Freeway and Expressway System, which identifies the main routes of transportation in the state of California. The State Route 3 designation was applied to the Peanut-Montague roadway in the 1964 renumbering. The overlap with temporary I-5 (along the portion where SR 3 runs concurrently with Interstate 5 today) near Yreka was removed when the new I-5 bypass was built; the legislative definition was updated to reflect this in 1974, soon after the building of the bypass.

## Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile | Destinations | Notes |
| Trinity TRI L0.00-85.07 | ​ | L0.00 | SR 36 – Red Bluff, Forest Glen | South end of SR 3 |
| Trinity TRI L0.00-85.07 | Hayfork | ​ | Hyampom Road – Hyampom | |
| Trinity TRI L0.00-85.07 | ​ | L30.89R58.11 | SR 299 east – Redding | South end of SR 299 overlap |
| Trinity TRI L0.00-85.07 | ​ | 56.80 | Moon Lim Lee Rest Area | Moon Lim Lee Rest Area |
| Trinity TRI L0.00-85.07 | Weaverville | 51.5730.86 | SR 299 west (Main Street) – Eureka | North end of SR 299 overlap |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | ​ | 6.95 | Gazelle Callahan Road – Gazelle | |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Fort Jones | 32.20 | Scott River Road – Scott Bar | |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Yreka | L47.26 | Moonlit Oaks Avenue (I-5 Bus. south) to I-5 – Redding, Portland | South end of I-5 Bus. overlap |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Yreka | L49.21 | Center Street to I-5 | |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Yreka | L49.87 | SR 263 north (North Main Street) / Tebbe Street | |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Yreka | R47.38 | I-5 – Portland, Redding | I-5 exit 776; north end of I-5 Bus. overlap |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Montague | 53.22 | CR A28 south (Montague Grenada Road) – Grenada | South end of CR A28 overlap |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Montague | ​ | CR A28 north (11th Street) | North end of CR A28 overlap |
| Siskiyou SIS 0.41-54.19 | Montague | 54.19 | Ball Mountain Little Shasta Road – Ball Mountain | Continuation beyond the Montague east city limit; north end of SR 3 |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus |||||
* 1 2 3 Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along SR 299 rather than SR 3.