Rattlesnake Bar Road and Bridge site

Folsom Lake has receded enough that artifacts the lake submerged over 70 years ago are visible once again. We have explored the site of the Rattlesnake Bar Bridge before. On this visit, we also walked the old road section that had made an appearance since the water has receded. We had wondered about the route of the road and how it made its way to the bridge. A wonderful section of the road is quite visible, as seen in the photo above. This is facing away from the bridge site, headed away from the bridge.

1873 map of the Georgetown Divide showing the bridge site and road. Click map for a larger view.

Rattlesnake Bar Road was a well used crossing of the American River all the way up to the lake filling in 1955/56. This was an easy way to cross the river and access Pilot Hill headed east or Auburn headed north west. Once the lake was filled this old crossing was inundated and the road on the El Dorado County side was changed to Goose Flat Road, still a county road, though not maintained and on now private land.

Bridge foundations on either side of the north fork of the American River. Looking from Placer County.

The above photo is from the Placer County side and shows the two foundations on either side of the river. The lake was low enough on the day we visited that the Placer County side's road is visible and shows the approach to the bridge site. The old road does not follow the present-day Rattlesnake Bar Road into the state park where the bridge stood but follows its own course, hidden from view most of the time. Below is a section we found covered with asphalt.

We have located the short sections of the road in the photo on the map below. You can also see the bridge foundation locations from this satellite photo, though the lake submerges both.

Click map for a closer view.

We enjoyed checking out the surreal landscape of a low Folsom Lake. All of the area around Folsom Lake was mined by gold seekers during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. That with the rising and lowering of the reservoir has created an otherworldly landscape with multiple levels of dirt of different colors. Quite striking and combined with the history of the area makes for a great day trip.

Below is a photograph of the old bridge. There is a man and a boy in the photograph along with smoke coming out of the bridge tenders shack. The printing above the man reads, “All persons driving or riding faster than a walk over this bridge will be fined to the extent of the law.”

The Rattlesnake Bar Bridge, 1860s to 1870s. Can you see the child in the photo?

The Lincoln Highway in El Dorado County, Part 2, historic Trout Creek Bridge

We are continuing our California pioneer (southern route) Lincoln Highway tour, which starts at Stateline, Nevada, and now takes us west on Pioneer Trail or the Lincoln Highway back in 1913. You can read about the Stateline start of our adventure here.

Map showing bridge site, Lincoln Highway, and Stateline, Nevada. Click map for larger view.

Before Pioneer Trail was the Lincoln Highway and earlier county wagon road, it was part of the famed Johnson Cut-Off Trail, which brought emigrants and others over Spooner Summit in Nevada and into the Lake Tahoe Valley. Like later highway travelers, the pioneers were headed towards Echo Summit and over Johnson’s Pass, the final mountain obstacle in their travels.

The 1907 Trout Creek Bridge, with present day Pioneer Trail and autos above

We can see the old bridge and the modern-day Pioneer Trail Road on the upper right in the photo above. You can also see a large metal culvert in the center-left top of the photo. The Creek has been moved east by about 50 yards to pass under the newer bridge. No water passes under the older bridge these days.

Trails West “T” marker at Trout Creek.

On the opposite side of Bear Creek Road, The Trail West Organization has placed one of their historic “T” markers. On these markers is an excerpt from an emigrant diary about this particular location. We can see the excerpt from William Wirt Gilbert’s 1853 diary describing this place in the photo above. He sees the first signs of gold mining since reaching Calfornia here at Trout Creek.

Satellite photo showing bridge and surrounding features. Click photo for larger view.

In the satellite photo above, we can see the Trails West “T” Marker, the bridge, and just west of the old bridge the present day route of Trout Creek.

Bridge date, 1907 carved into concrete.

We couldn’t find any information online as to when the old bridge was built. We visited the area a second time about a year after our first visit. Walking around the bridge, we hit the jackpot, as the date, 1907, was carved into the concrete by some unknown worker or passerby. This bridge was built before the Lincoln Highway was inaugurated in 1913, so it acted as a county bridge before that era.

Below is a short video we made a couple of years back concerning the bridge site.

We will be continuing our Lincoln Highway southern route adventure, headed towards Meyer’s, in an upcoming post.

Lincoln Highway alignment found near Fresh Pond

While heading east following the Lincoln Highway route past Fresh Pond, we turned left on Outer Limits Road, then a quick right on to Dubasary Lane headed towards the Ranger Station. As is often the case in California's mountains, the Lincoln Highway's old 1913 route diverges from today’s Highway 50 freeway winding its way around the contours of the hills. In the early part of the 20th Century, equipment like a steam shovel was unavailable, so the roads couldn’t be cut into the hills like they were in subsequent years. Often the Lincoln Highway would follow older wagon roads and emigrant routes. Here is no exception as this route follows the old Johnson Cut-Off Trail from the mid-1800s.

Map showing location. Click map for larger view.

Just down Dubasary Ln., we came upon a section of the old road complete with a white centerline, which you can see in the photo at the top of the page. We tried to follow it, but Highway 50 is just to the right, and during its construction in the 1950s, the old road was covered with rock, making access impossible.

Traveling a bit further down Dubassary Lane, we spotted a “C” monument, also known as a “right-of-way” monument. These concrete structures were used by the highway department to signify the state-owned roadway. Typically they were placed about 15 feet from the edge of the state highway, with an imprinted letter “C” facing the road. The “C” stands for California. Nevada has its own monuments with the letter “N.” This marker had no “C” visible, so we jumped out of the car and investigated.

Trey pointing to the “C” monument with no visible “C”.

While the monument had no visible “C” from Dubasary Lane, there was a “C” imprinted on the opposite side, which indicates the old road was on the other side of the chain-link fence. Now the old route started to make sense. The old Lincoln Highway was closer to the newer Highway 50 than previously thought.

The hidden “C”.

It was hard to get this photo as the chain-link fence made it impossible to walk around. The “C” is clearly visible and indicating the roadbed edge was 15 feet on the other side of the fence. In the following photograph, our car is parked, facing west at the site of the monument. We can see how far the old road is from Dubasary Ln., about 15 feet past the fence at left.

Below is the official Lincoln Highway map showing a satellite view of the area. I have shown some of the features and drawn in red the found route of the old Lincoln Highway.

Map showing the found route and some other features. Click map for larger view.

We can surmise that with the modern Highway 50 in the 1950s, the older road was destroyed. It was too close to the new highway, so it was moved away from the freeway and given the name, Dubasary Lane. This newly found route will be presented to the Lincoln Highway Association cartographers for approval and addition to the official map found here.

The Lincoln Highway was America’s first coast-to-coast highway for automobiles. When first planned it followed roads already in place. Here in California's mountains, the old road often followed the older wagon and emigrant trails from the 1800s. Here is no exception as just across Dubasary Lane from the “C” monument is a “T” monument put up by the Trails West organization. It mentions that this is part of the Johnson Cut-Off Trail from the 1850s. Down in the American River Canyon from here was the Bartlett Bridge, which predates the famous Brockliss Bridge. The wooden Bartlett Bridge was destroyed by flood on March 7th, 1855, and replaced with the stone Brockliss Bridge a few miles upriver. We couldn’t find a drawing of the Bartlett Bridge but found this one of the Brockliss Bridge, which the Pony Express used during its incarnation.

Brockliss Bridge over the American River by Edward Vischer. Toll House at right.

Often we find ourselves at some special location in history that even pre-dates the old Lincoln Highway. The old road spans the time from horse and buggy and the new-fangled automobile.

The Lincoln Highway is your road to adventure.

Lincoln Highway bridge at Rainbow in the Sierra Nevada

A favorite spot of ours, along the northern route of The Lincoln Highway in California, is Big Bend, in the Sierra Nevada. This area is filled with history, including the first wagon train encampment across the Sierra, The Stevens-Townsend-Murphy Party.

The photo above was taken in 1915 when this was bridge was part of the Lincoln Highway. Here the highway crossed the South Yuba River, very close to where the wagon trains would have crossed during the 1850s and ’60s. This bridge site is located just downriver from today's bridge on Hampshire-Rocks Road. While the bridge is long gone, the abutments on both sides of the river are still visible.

Location of the bridge site.

The old Lotus Bridge site, and the Georgetown Divide history tour

Join us as we begin the Georgetown Divide History tour! The tour can start anywhere along the route, but we will use the crossing at the south fork of the American River in our example. This tour will eventually make a complete loop bringing us back to the starting point. Google powers the map we will be using and will allow you to use your cell phone device to follow and enjoy the various features we will learn. Once we have discussed a historical point of interest and "put it on the map," we will move on to the next spot. Eventually, we will have a "tour" you can use to explore our history-rich region. The map is located here on our webpage under "maps."

Close-up of the 1873 map of the Georgetown Divide. A link for this map is available in our map section here.

Our first stop along the tour is the old road route and bridge site across the south fork of The American River at Lotus. Looking at a close-up of the 1873 map of the Georgetown Divide above, you see two arrows. One shows the old Lotus crossing site near Hennigson Park, and the other shows the approximate route of the present-day bridge.

The old Lotus Bridge.

The old route used to cross the river at the present-day site of Henningson Park. Standing at the shore of the river, you can still see the concrete foundations for the old bridge sitting in the water. Once you crossed the bridge, the old road followed Beach Street towards the present-day Highway 49. We have drawn in the old route on our tour map so we can better visualize the way.

The Georgetown Divide History tour

The bridge was damaged by high waters in 1950 and ceased use when the present crossing, a bit upriver, was built in 1951. That bridge was replaced in 2019 by the bridge that stands today over the south fork of the American River. Join us as we continue our tour of the Georgetown Divide and visit the next site on our journey, the location, and ruins of the old Meyer's Dance Hall and Saloon.

The old swimming hole at Rattlesnake Bar

The Rattlesnake Bar area between El Dorado and Placer Counties was once a famous crossing utilizing the old Rattlesnake Bar Bridge, seen towards the top of the photograph. That bridge was doomed, as Folsom Dam would be constructed downstream starting in 1952, with the reservoir beginning to fill in February 1955. Before that, a truck carrying fertilizer exceeding the 8-ton limit collapsed the bridge, and with the dam in the works, the bridge was never repaired.

The photograph above shows some kids playing in the tranquil waters of the north fork of the American River at a well-known swimming hole below the bridge. We are looking from the Placer County side to the El Dorado County side in the historic photograph. Before the upstream dams, the river waters would drop quite low, and become quite warm during the summertime, making for some sweet swimming holes.

This location is now under the waters of Folsom Lake most of the year. During the late summer or droughts, the water drops low enough that the old concrete supports for the bridge reappear.

Trout Creek bridge date

While visiting the Lincoln Highway in South Lake Tahoe we stopped to see the Trout Creek bridge. Located just off Pioneer and Golden Bear Trail sit’s a lonely bridge that serves no purpose other than to arouse our curiosity.

Trout Creek bridge looking west.

You must stop and park on Golden Bear Trail to see the bridge. There is also a Trails West “T” at the corner marker telling us this route was also the old Johnson’s Cut-Off Trail from the 1850’s. The bridge use to cross Trout Creek, but the creek has been diveretd and now passes under the curent bridge on Pioneer Trail.

Trout Creek use to pass under here.

While checking out the mortor between the stones we found some writing which told us the mortor was applied in 1907! There are also some other letters, “I C L A M”? Perhaps those are the masons initials? We don’t know.

Rattlesnake Bar Bridge site

Wanting to keep our trip closer to home this time, we took a quick ride to Folsom Lake. We wanted to see the old Rattlesnake Bar Bridge site, which once forded the north fork of The American River, long before Folsom Dam. When the lake is filling or filled, this area is flooded by at least 50 feet of water. The lake had left lines in the sides of the hills, and old signs of hydraulic mining along with tailings added to the weird but beautiful landscape.

Folsom Lake at low levels, Rattlesnake Bar.

We rounded a corner to see the pilings for the bridge fully exposed! We knew what they looked like from earlier photos taken during our last drought, but it's fun to see them in person. It reminds us that there were quite a few active communities located in the ravines and channels that would become Folsom Lake. Rattlesnake Bar was one such place, a town that grew because of gold, burned down, then built again just a little way up the hill. We had heard that Rattlesnake Bar was on the El Dorado County side, but this map from 1873 shows Rattlesnake Bar on the Placer County side. You can also see the bridge crossing the narrow north fork Channel and Wild Goose's old town site on The El Dorado County side. Another map from 1910, The American River Canal Map, also shows Rattlesnake Bar on the Placer County side.

1873 map of The Georgetown Divide

While gold was the main impetus for creating Rattlesnake Bar in the 1850s, the bridge facilitated the transportation of agricultural products and quicklime from the Alabaster Cave Quarry on the El Dorado County side. It was William Gwyn, discoverer of the famous Alabaster Caves, or at that time called Coral Caves, who built the first bridge in 1863. This cave was the result of a search for lime to use in the lime kiln nearby. Quicklime was created and then transported across this bridge. The Alabaster Cave soon became a tourist attraction, and the bridge helped interested people get there more quickly. You could take the train from Sacramento to Auburn, then a stage to the bridge, where you would cross to the El Dorado side and the extraordinary Alabaster Cave. We will talk about this then famous cave in a later post.

Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 25, Number 3835, 7 July 1863

The original wooden bridge, built-in 1862, was replaced with a wire suspension bridge that endured until it collapsed in 1954 under an overloaded truck's weight. Folsom Dam was under construction, and this area would soon be underwater, so the counties did not replace the bridge.

Rattlesnake Bar Bridge, 1860 or 1870’s. Notice the young child just to the left of the man standing.

The same spot today with the bridge pilings clearly visible.

Here is a short video concerning our trip to the bridge site.