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  5. Road trippin': Auburn to Mariposa

Road trippin': Auburn to Mariposa on SR-49

Following in the footsteps of the (18)49ers

It's not exactly traveling back in time, but it's something akin to it when motorists steer their vehicles along State Route 49. This generally low-tech and quaint portion of our immense state harks back to the Gold Rush, and gives visitors a sense of where and how California debuted as a force to be reckoned with.

State Route 49

00 (Screen grab courtesy of Google Maps)
01 State Route 49, whose numerical designation evokes memories of the California Gold Rush, heads out of Auburn toward Coloma.
02 A few miles out from Auburn, Highway 49 offers striking views of the Foresthill Bridge, which spans the Middle Fork of the American River.
03 Many motorists park on the southern side of this SR-49 bridge to explore the river-side terrain and take int the views.
04 A short, dedicated pedestrian and bicycle path helps non-motorists get around safely in the small community of Cool.
05 Eighteen miles out from Auburn, Highway 49 passes through Coloma and Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park.
06 Coloma is where on Jan. 24, 1848, James Marshall discovered gold in the American River. News spread and the Gold Rush ensued.
07 This much=photographed monument roughly marks the spot where Marshall found gold. Decades later, he died a poor man in Coloma.
09 Country music might well be popular in this foothills town, although it's a great deal tinier than its Tennessee cousin.
10 The pandemic has been rough on millions of small businesses worldwide, and this Nashville store might be one of them.
11 Not so many years ago, State Route 49 passed directly through Amador City and Sutter Creek. They's charming places, but less-visited lately.
12 Highway 49 is accessible from many roadways, including via State Route 88 that itself is reachable off U.S. Highway 99 near Lodi
13 The Kennedy Gold Mine, one of the world's deepest at nearly 6,000 feet, operated from the 1860s until 1942 and can be toured today.
14 The Kennedy Gold Mine is in northern Jackson, not quite a mile east of State Route 49, and is reachable via Kennedy Mine Road.
15 The Butte Store ruins are sure to get your attention south of Jackson just off (quite literally) Highway 49. It dates from the 1850s.
16 Mokelumne Hill is one of several Gold Rush towns that appear along, or nearby, Highway 49 as it skirts the Sierra Nevada.
17 State Route 49 is a popular trail for tourists who want a taste of the Gold Rush, but it also connects to many roadways that shoot up the Sierra.
18 Angels Camp is one of the larger towns along Highway 49, offering visitors both Gold Rush charm and fast-food eateries.
19 Some $26 million in gold and quartz were extracted from the Carson Hill mine, four miles south of Angels Camp. It's now a state historic landmark.
20 A few miles south of Carson Hill, Highway 49 comes upon and crosses New Melones Lake near the Robinson Ferry vista point.
21 This small, colorfully named side road off Highway 49 north of Sonora dead-ends at the site of a Mark Twain cabin replica.
22 At the end of the side road off State Route 49 north of Sonora, the "Mark Twain Cabin" is a fenced-in replica that dates from the 1920s, after Twain died.
23 Just north of Sonora, motorists have the option of veering off to visit Columbia State Historic Park, where Gold Rush buildings are preserved.
24 Sonora is a bustling (especially when there's no pandemic!) foothills town that is a popular, quaint getaway for city folk and tourists.
25 Southwest of Sonora, Highway 49 veers off from State Route 108 to join State Route 120 on the latter's way to Yosemite National Park.
26 James E. Roberts was a chief engineer for Caltrans for many years, including during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
27 The Jacksonville Road bridge is visible from a vista point along State Route 49 at San Pedro Reservoir, south of Sonora.
28 State Routes 120 and 49 part ways near San Pedro Reservoir, with the former going east to Yosemite, and the latter continuing south.
29 Highway 49 twists and turns a lot as it meanders from Sonora down to Mariposa, along the way passing through Coulterville.
30 As it does in so many small rural communities throughout California, Caltrans has a maintenance yard in Coulterville.
31 Erosion concerns prompt Caltrans to protect roadways with culverts and shoring, as evidenced here south of Coulterville on SR-49.
32 One of California's famous early leaders, John C. Fremont, who served as a U.S. senator, in the mid-1800s built a small fort nearby.
33 A very tight horseshoe turn has Highway changing directions as it heads up the hills between Coulterville and Mariposa.
34 A few miles north of downtown Mariposa, this airport serves as a landing spot for higher-heeled tourists bound for Yosemite.
35 This chapter of CT News Road Trippin' closes in Mariposa, although State Route 49 continues south to Oakhurst.