HERITAGE CORRIDORS OF CALIFORNIA

 

I. TAHOE-PACIFIC CORRIDOR with the Mendocino-Tahoe Trail

II. PIONEER AND GOLD RUSH CORRIDOR

I. The TAHOE-PACIFIC Corridor, which contains the Mendocino-Tahoe Trail, via State Route 20 is one of the best ways to sample California's climatic and cultural diversity. Mendocino's dramatic headlands support Mexican pines and Alaskan spruces, next to bizarre pygmy forests. In 1852, a vast redwood industry started with lumber schooners, replaced in the 1880's by "Skunk Trains" inland to Willits.

To the east, Clear Lake's ancient waters mirror volcanic Mt. Konocti, shaggy with chaparral and the "Black Forest" where one third of the mountain blew out as the Buckingham Peninsula.

Dotted by waterfowl refuges and hunting clubs, plains as flat as Kansas spread far to the north and south in the Great Central Valley. The Sutter Buttes rise like a "miniature Sierra Nevada", between the Sacramento and Feather Rivers, which are still lined by remnants of once widespread riverbank jungles.

The Sierra Nevada rises gradually like a trap-door along its western slope, supporting foothill oaks and gray pines throughout the Yuba River watersheds. Hillsides are dotted with remnants of gold mining in communities like Grass Valley and rustic Nevada City. Ponderosa Pine forest soon shift to more cold-resistant Red Fir and Lodgepole Pine at Cisco Grove as the corridor climbs eastward toward the timberline and over the Sierra crest at Donner Pass.

From historic Truckee, Tahoe-Pacific follows the Truckee River along scenic State Route 89 to the western shores of that beautiful jewel--Lake Tahoe.

II. The Pioneer and Gold Rush Corridor, prior to 1844 was known by fur trapping "Mountain Men" who traversed the Pacific Crest west of Lake Tahoe, following Indian trading routes from the Great Basin of Nevada to Sutter's Fort. Immigrant parties soon followed the fur trappers in the 1840's. The Donner State Park/Pioneer Monument at the eastern end of Donner Lake pays tribute to all pioneers. The Donner Party story of starvation and perservance is one of the most compelling of the covered-wagon era.

While earlier pioneers crossed the Sierras at a gap just southwest of Donner Lake, 30,000 Gold Rush pioneers used the next pass at Donner Peak. Dutch Flat Wagon Road and the transcontinental railroad replaced these higher passes. The Lincoln Highway became the first pavement to cross North America. This soon became U.S. 40, and, in 1965, Interstate 80.

The construction of a network of bridges, including the Carquinez Bridge in 1926 and San Francisco Bay Bridge in 1939, followed ninety years of ferry boats across Bay Area waterways and completed the California crossing.

*The other seven heritage corridors of the North-Central Section of California are: North Central Coast, Golden Chain, Missions and Adobes, Great Valley Rivers, Eastern Sierra, Pony Express, and Yosemite Pacific.

A "Heritage Corridor", as defined by the California Legislature, is an avenue of historical, natural, or conservation significance. Each corridor follows one or more state or federal highway alignment and has a theme. There are many major parks, trails, museums, roadside historical, and natural access points. There are nine designated and pilot California heritage corridors selected for their historic and natural significance; and for accessibility to persons with mobility impairments, the "easy access" majority.