Throwback Thursday; Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Back in 2012 I took a form of transportation I don't believe has been previously covered on the Surewhynotnow blog; the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway from Coachella Valley in Sonoran Desert to the vicinity of San Jacinto Peak.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is located a couple miles northwest of downtown Palm Springs on California State Route 111. Access to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is via the amusingly named Tram Way.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway begins it's ascent through Chino Canyon at 2,643 feet above sea level at the Valley Station to 8,516 feet above sea level at Mountain Station. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was first proposed in 1935 but construction didn't begin until 1960. Helicopters were largely used during the construction of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway which opened in 1963. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway provides easy access to San Jacinto State Park in addition to Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument.

The 18 foot wide tram cars actually rotate 360 degrees on the ascent from Valley Station up to Mountain Station. The tram cars provide excellent views which can be as far as 200 miles northward towards the Las Vegas Metro Area on a clear day.

The views down Chino Canyon from Mountain Station are daunting to say the least.

Much of Coachella Valley and the San Andreas Fault can be observed from Mountain Station.

The primary attraction that can be accessed from Mountain Station is the 10,834 foot San Jacinto Peak which is the tallest summit in the San Jacinto Mountains. The trail from Mountain Station is surprisingly short which can be accessed through San Jacinto State Park.

Comments

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area. Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County. The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte. The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom. Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail). La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora. The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River. Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207. Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road. The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939. Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune . Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903. The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba

Gribblenation

Search This Blog