Since my first visit in July-2011 to this somewhat hidden Merritt Draw Riparian Area with its summer lush green and very pleasant meadow area for individual and family hiking which also includes a number of perennial springs, I had been very curious wanting to locate the original driving route(s) in and out.

This 9/30 visit I 4WD explored one of the original forest service roads in and out (FR9734P..Ref my posted 9/30 GPS Route). I discovered that this original road is still open, in decent shape as of this posting, and stock 4WD passable from its beginning intersection with FR139 for the 2.2ml drive in to enter middle Merritt Draw Riparian Area to begin hiking (Ref the first 4 pics with captions in my posted 9/30 picset).

On my drive out on FR9734P I stopped for a pleasant, impromptu 1ml R/T hike on "closed to vehicle traffic" FR9739V (Ref pics 5-12 with captions).

My next 9/30 driving stop--> McFarland Spring (to check-out the area and to confirm the spring status).