Skip to main content

Mines Road

By


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 Brentwood in what is now Contra Costa County.  The trail initially crossed part of the Diablo Range south closely approximating the corridor of Vasco Road to take advantage of the waters of Las Tinajas.  From Las Tinajas the trail continued south to the site of modern-day Livermore.

La Vereda del Monte south from Livermore Valley ascended back into the Diablo Range towards San Antonio Valley approximating the current corridor of Mines Road.  From San Antonio Valley the trail continued south towards Pacheco Pass following a fold in the Diablo Range.  From Pacheco Pass the trail continued south towards Panoche Pass onwards to the vicinity of Coalinga near Murrieta Spring where it met up with El Camino Viejo Los Angeles (Old Los Angeles Road).  

La Vereda del Monte would largely decline following the conclusion of the Mexican-American War.  Following California becoming an American state the trail would be repurposed by those seeking mining claims in the Diablo Range.  Arroyo Mocho in general was found to have numerous deposits of magnesite.  

The 1876 Thompson & West Atlas of Santa Clara County displays a trail entering San Antonio Valley from the south via Horse Valley and Isabel Valley.  The trail is shown to continue north out of San Antonio Valley but ending before reaching Alameda County.



The 1880 Oakland Tribune Map of Alameda County displays what is now Mines Road beginning near Tesla Road near Livermore and extending south via Arroyo Mocho to the property of Henry Issac. 


By the 1890s San Antonio Valley had grown enough to merit Postal service.  The Deforest Post Office would open in 1892 and would be named after the first community Postmaster Ransford S. Deforest.  Post Office service in San Antonio Valley would cease in 1909.  

The 1914 Punnett Brothers Map is one of the earliest maps to display Mines Road connecting from San Antonio Valley north to the outskirts of Livermore.  The highway is shown to largely follow Arroyo Mocho south from Livermore towards the Santa Clara County line. 



Mines Road can be seen connecting San Antonio Valley Road to Tesla Road near Livermore on the 1935 Division of Highways Maps of Santa Clara County and Alameda County.  A road branching east towards the site of the Jones mine (T6SR5E) in Del Puerto Canyon of Stanislaus County can also be seen.  Modern Del Puerto Canyon Road was not completed between Patterson and Mines Road until 1942.  







Part 2; a drive on Mines Road

Northbound Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley at the mutual junction with San Antonio Valley Road and Del Puerto Canyon Road.  San Antonio Valley Road and Del Puerto Canyon Road is signed as an extension of California State Route 130 east from the official terminus at Mount Hamilton by Santa Clara County.  Livermore is signed as being thirty-one miles away as Mines Road begins.  




Northbound Mines Road passes through Blackbird Valley and picks up Arroyo Mocho approaching Alameda County.  Upon entering Alameda County, the road narrows from two-lanes to a single lane.  




























Traffic is advised of one lane conditions on the first nine miles of northbound Mines Road in Alameda County.


Mines Roads continues mostly as a single lane road which frequently fords Arroyo Mocho.  Mines Road blows out completely to a two-lane configuration near Mud Springs.  


































Mines Road continues to descend along Arroyo Mocho and makes a right-hand turn at Del Valle Road.  

























Mines Road enters the outskirts of Livermore and terminates at Tesla Road (County Route J2). 







Labels:

Comments

jrleek said…
Thanks for this little overview of Mines Rd. I’ve lived here for 20 years and didn’t know anything about it. But I did a bike ride up there, it was beautiful, but definitely not obvious how the road came to be.
10:41 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cajon Pass; Cajon Pass Toll Road, National Old Trails Road, US Route 66/91/395 and Interstate 15

By
This past weekend I spent some time in Cajon Pass traversing the many historic road alignments. Cajon Pass is located in San Bernardino County, California along the San Andreas Fault.  Cajon Pass  serves the boundary line between the Mojave Desert, the San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains and San Bernardino Valley.  Cajon Pass is historically one of the most traveled transportation corridors in American California and presently is served by four rail lines, Interstate 15 and California State Route 138. While Cajon Pass is known mostly for carrying US Route 66 it has carried numerous other signed highways that have had a significant impact on regional and national road travel.  While this is my best attempt to compile everything from the best sources I could find into one single transportation history blog regarding road travel in Cajon Pass I suspect as time goes on this article will be frequently updated.  If you have any information that you ...
1 comment
Read more

Pardee Dam Road

By
Pardee Dam is a 358-foot-high concrete structure located near Campo Seco at the Calaveras County and Amador County Line.  Pardee Dam impounds the Mokelumne River which forms the namesake Pardee Reservoir.  Pardee Dam was completed during 1929 and is part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District.  Pardee Dam is accessed by the namesake Pardee Dam Road which crosses the structure via the one-lane road seen as the blog cover photo.   Part 1; the history of Pardee Dam Road The closest community to Pardee Dam is that of Campo Seco on the Calaveras County side of the Mokelumne River.  Campo Seco was founded in 1850 by Mexican Miners who worked placer claims in Oregon Gulch during the height of the California Gold Rush.  Campo Seco would reach a population of about three hundred by 1860 spurred by the numerous mining claims in the area.  Main Street of Campo Seco flowed directly into the Campo Seco Turnpike which had been authorized by the California L...
2 comments
Read more

California State Route 82/Old US Route 101 on the El Camino Real from San Francisco to Interstate 380

By
After completing Interstate 380 I made my way northward into the City Limits of San Francisco to drive the northernmost portion of California State Route 82. CA 82 is 52 mile State Route between I-280 in San Francisco southward to Interstate 880 in San Jose.  CA 82 is significant due to it being part of the historical surface alignment of US Route 101 and the El Camino Real. The "El Camino Real" was a Spanish Highway in Las Californias and Alta California which connected the 21 Catholic Missions along the coast.  Essentially the route of the El Camino Real was plotted out in the late 1700s from two Spanish survey expeditions.  The Missions were plotted approximately 30 miles apart along the 600 mile route so that they would be a single day journey by horse.  The El Camino Real name fell into disuse after the Mexican Revolution of 1821 but was revived by American highway promoters in the 1890s and 1900s.  Today the El Camino Real is mostly associated...
2 comments
Read more