California State Route 49
State Route 49 is a north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants who swept into the area looking for gold, and it is known as the Golden Chain Highway. This roadway begins at Oakhurst, Madera County, in the Sierra Nevada, where it diverges from State Route 41. It continues in a generally northwest direction, weaving through the communities of Goldside and Ahwahnee, before crossing into Mariposa County. State Route 49 then continues northward through the counties of Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Sierra, and Plumas, where it reaches its northern terminus at State Route 70, in Vinton.
Route description
SR 49 starts at an intersection with SR 41 near Oakhurst. The road heads west before turning north before the town of Ahwahnee near the Wassama Roundhouse State Historic Park. SR 49 continues north, passing through Nipinnswassee before entering Mariposa County and the Sierra National Forest. Continuing to the west, SR 49 passes through Mormon Bar before running concurrently with SR 140 briefly through the town of Mariposa. Near the town of Mount Bullion, SR 49 passes by Mariposa-Yosemite Airport before turning northwest and going through Bear Valley and the intersection with CR J16. The highway passes by the southern edge of Lake McClure and intersects SR 132 in Coulterville before passing into Tuolumne County.SR 49 continues north through the town of Moccasin, where SR 120 runs concurrently for several miles to the town of Chinese Camp. SR 49 then turns northeast and runs concurrently with SR 108, intersecting CR E5, into the city of Sonora. SR 49 splits from SR 108 and enters downtown Sonora as Stockton Street, turning north onto Washington Street before leaving the Sonora city limits. SR 49 intersects the north end of CR E5 before passing through Tuttletown and crossing into Calaveras County at the bridge over the Stanislaus River.
SR 49 passes by Robinson's Ferry, a ferry across the Stanislaus River established in 1848. Next is the Birthplace of Archie Stevenot, who helped found the California State Chamber of Commerce and was officially named "Mr. Mother Lode" by the California legislature. SR 49 then enters Carson Hill, where the largest gold nugget in California was found. Passing by New Melones Lake, SR 49 briefly runs concurrently with SR 4 in the city of Angels Camp, which lies in one of the richest quartz mining sections of the Mother Lode and is home of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
SR 49 continues through Altaville, which was an important foundry town. Fourth Crossing was an important stagecoach and freighting depot that served the southern mines until after the turn of the 20th century. The highway continues into San Andreas, where SR 12 terminates. This is where Charles Bolles, also known as "Black Bart", was tried and sentenced. Chili Gulch is the site of the Chilean War. SR 49 continues into Mokelumne Hill, where it intersects with SR 26; Mokelumne Hill was the richest placer mining section of Calaveras County and one of the principal mining towns of California in its heyday.
SR 49 then passes through Big Bar, which is located on the county line between Amador County and Calaveras County. The Mokelumne River was mined at this point in 1848. Established in 1849, the "Whale Boat Ferry" operated until the first bridge was built, about 1852. The Butte Store is the only structure remaining of Butte City, prosperous mining town of the 1850s. Argonaut and Kennedy Mines were two of the highest-yielding gold mines in the state. SR 49 runs concurrently with SR 88 briefly through the town of Martell before intersecting the eastern terminus of SR 104 and passing near first the city of Sutter Creek and then Drytown. Drytown is the oldest town in Amador County and the first in the county in which gold was discovered.
SR 49 then intersects the eastern end of SR 16 before passing through the city of Plymouth. The highway continues through Enterprise before crossing into El Dorado County and passing through the towns of Nashville, El Dorado, and Diamond Springs before entering Placerville. SR 49 traverses downtown on Pacific Street and Main Street before continuing onto Spring Street, where it intersects the US 50 expressway at-grade before continuing north as Georgetown Road.
As it leaves the Placerville city limits, SR 49 intersects the southern terminus of SR 193 before continuing northwest as Coloma Road into the town of Coloma, where gold was first discovered in 1848, sparking the gold rush. It is home of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. The highway continues through Lotus before turning north at Pilot Hill and intersecting the northern terminus of SR 193 at Cool. SR 49 continues through the Auburn State Recreation Area before crossing into Placer County and entering the city of Auburn as High Street for a very short distance before turning west on Elm Avenue. SR 49 continues onto I-80 west at an interchange for a very short distance until the interchange at exit 119B where SR 49 departs from I-80. SR 49 then continues almost due north out of the Auburn city limits.
SR 49 continues north, crossing into Nevada County and passing through Higgins Corner and Forest Springs. SR 49 becomes a freeway and enters the city of Grass Valley, where it runs concurrently with SR 20 and interchanges with the northern end of SR 174. Empire Mine in Grass Valley was the richest hard-rock mine in California in its mining history of 106 years. SR 49 and SR 20 continue into Nevada City, where SR 49 exits from the freeway and heads due west out of the Nevada City city limits.
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SR 49 continues through the towns of Sweetland and North San Juan, where it crosses into Yuba County and enters Tahoe National Forest. The route goes through Log Cabin and Camptonville. Camptonville is a gold rush town where the Pelton wheel was invented and is a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. SR 49 then crosses into Sierra County, where it passes through Goodyears Bar, Downieville, and Sierra City on its forest journey. After passing near Kentucky Mine Historic Park, SR 49 goes through Bassets and Haskell Creek, then shares a wrong-way concurrency with SR 89 briefly through Sattley and Sierraville. SR 49 then leaves the forest as Loyalton Road, passing through the city of Loyalton and intersecting CR A24 before crossing into Plumas County as Vinton Loyalton Road, where SR 49 ends at SR 70 in the town of Vinton.
SR 49 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and from SR 140 to a point north of SR 88 as well as from I-80 to SR 20 is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. SR 49 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, and from the Sierra-Yuba county line to Yuba Summit is officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation. The segment of SR 49 from SR 20 in Nevada City to SR 89 in Sierraville also forms part of the Yuba-Donner Scenic Byway, a National Forest Scenic Byway.
SR 49 is known as the Golden Chain Highway for the entire route. SR 49 is known as the John C. Begovich Memorial Highway from Jackson to SR 88, and the Mother Lode Highway from Sonora to Auburn.