Trans-Sierra Roads

of the Gold Rush

Wagon Roads

Across the Sierra Nevada

1848 to 1860

  • Click on map items for more information.
  • Click in boxes for greater detail.
  • Dotted lines indicate routes that were abandoned after a short period of use.
  • Dashed lines indicate roads that were developed after 1860.
  • Yellow perimeter curves indicate significant gold mining districts.
  • The axe-and-pan icon indicates principal mining towns.

Locations and Regions Featured on this Map

Oroville. Settled in 1849. California's first dredging field. $55 million in gold was taken from the dredging fields along the Feather River from 1898 to 1952.

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Hammonton. California's richest dredging field. More than $130 million in gold was taken from the dredging fields along the Yuba River from 1903 to 1968.

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Folsom. Founded in 1855. $125 million in gold was taken from the dredging fields along the American River. Dredging ceased in 1962.

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Big Oak Flat. Over $25 million in placer and lode deposits were mined in the Big Oak Flat district during the Gold Rush. Lode mining resumed briefly in the 1930s.

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Carson River. One of the major routes that emigrants followed from the Humboldt Sink to California..

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27 February 2004