Skip to main content

Red Hills Road (Tuolumne County)

By

Reds Hill Road is a short four-mile rural corridor located in the namesake hills of Tuolumne County.  This particular highway was plotted during the California Gold Rush as part of a stage road between La Grange and Chinese Camp.  The Red Hills are mostly known as backdrop which has frequently been used in western movies and came under Bureau of Land Management protection in 1985.  Red Hills Road serves as a cutoff between Chinese Camp and La Grange Road (County Route J59).  The highway has numerous low water bridges which often overflow during the winter months.  




Part 1; the history of Red Hills Road

The Red Hills of Tuolumne County are located in the region around Chinese Camp in the Sierra Nevada foothills.  The area is comprised of serpentine soils which is unique for the western Sierra Nevada.  The Red Hills have several rare species of flora and fauna which are not found elsewhere.  In popular culture the Red Hills have been used as a backdrop for numerous Hollywood Westerns.  In particular the Red Hills were used as a set for 1885 Hill Valley in Back to the Future Part III.

What is now Red Hills Road was developed as a stage corridor which connected the California Gold Rush communities of La Grange and Chinese Camp.  The La Grange-Chinese Camp Stage Road can be seen prominently on the 1882 Bancroft's map of California.  


Red Hills Road can be seen on the 1893 United States Geological Survey map of Sonora.  The corridor is shown to begin at La Grange Road near Crimea House and terminate at Chinese Camp.  The prominent Taylor Hill lying at 1,694 feet above sea level is easily observed. 


Red Hills Road can be seen in greater detail on the 1947 United States Geological Survey map.  The corridor is shown beginning at La Grange Road near Crimea House and terminating at California State Routes 49 and 120 in Chinese Camp.  A large mining deposit called Sixbit Tailings is shown to be located south of Taylor Hill (now shown with elevation of 1,680 feet above sea level).  The Red Hills were dredged during the 1920s in an unsuccessful search for gold deposits.  The most successful mining operations in the area found deposits of magnesium. 




In 1985 the Bureau of Land Management created the Red Hills Area of Critical Concern and Recreation Area.  The protected area comprises 7,100 acres of protected lands which is used for hiking, hunting, horseback riding, birding and mountain biking.



Part 2; a drive on Red Hills Road

This westward view is down a mostly abandoned Main Street towards Red Hills Road in Chinese Camp. Said community is one of many mining towns which popped up circa 1849 in Tuolumne County amid the California Gold Rush. The name "Chinese Camp" comes from the numerous Chinese miners which were employed at the local placer mines.
Chinese Camp reached a peak population of about 5,000 during the 1850s. The community obtained Postal Service in 1854 which has been maintained to modern times. The 2020 census shows only 90 remaining people left residing in the community.


Main Street intersects Red Hills Road.


Westbound Red Hills Road departs Chinese Camp intersects Sims Road approaching the Reds Hills Area of Critical Concern.










Westbound Red Hills Road traffic is advised of a 25-ton weight limit.


Red Hills Road crosses a low water bridge and intersects the northern part of the Serpentine Loop Road.




Red Hills Road enters the Red Hills Area of Critical Concern.


Red Hills Road intersects the southern extent of the Serpentine Loop Road and crosses two low water bridges.







Red Hills Road makes a westward ascent and terminates at La Grange Road (County Route J59). Crimea House is no longer present at the western terminus.










Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 73

By
California State Route 73 is 21 mile limited access highway aligned over the Corona del Mar Freeway and San Joaquin Hills Toll Road.  California State Route 73 connects Interstate 5 near San Juan Capistrano westward to Interstate 405 in Costa Mesa.  Prior to the construction of the Corona del Mar Freeway and San Joaquin Hills Tollway California State Route 73 was a surface highway located on largely MacArthur Boulevard. Part 1; the history of California State Route 73 What became California State Route 73 ("CA 73") entered the State Highway System in 1933 as Legislative Route Number 184 ("LRN 184").  LRN 184 was given the following route definition: "LRN 60 near Corona Del Mar to Santa Ana via Main Street" LRN 184 was announced in the April 1933 California Highways & Public Works .   LRN 184 appears for the first time on the  1934 Division of Highways Map .   LRN 184 appears under State Maintenance from US Route 101/LRN 2 in Santa Ana south ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mormon Emigrant Trail (Emergency US Route 50 Alternate)

By
Mormon Emigrant Trail is an approximately 24.5-mile portion of the original routing of the Carson Pass Highway in Eldorado National Forest.  Mormon Emigrant Trail begins at California State Route 88 near Alder Hill and extends westward to Eldorado County Route J16 at Sly Park Road.   Carson Pass was a known crossing of the Sierra Nevada by the Washoe and was surveyed in an 1844 expedition led by John C. Fremont.  The Carson Pass Highway was plotted as a wagon road by the Mormon Battalion in 1848 and was once the primary crossing of the Sierra Nevada.  By the 1880s the Carson Pass Highway had several spurs with the primary traffic corridor being rerouted to Jackson.  The original routing towards Placerville would come to be known as Morman Emigrant Trail and became part of Eldorado National Forest in 1910.  Morman Emigrant Trail is part of Forest Road 10N50 and Eldorado National Forest Route 5.  Despite being a seasonally maintained roadway corrido...
Post a Comment
Read more