Advances in transportation shaped the development of many foothills communities: first, when the Central Pacific Railroad chugged into the region; then, again, when modern highways paved paths into the crest of the Sierra Nevada.
One of the few places to remain relatively untouched is the Foresthill Divide.
A series of ridges east of Auburn stepping up the western slope of the Sierra, the Divide is a wedge of land separating the North and Middle forks of the American River. Climbing from about the 3,200-foot elevation at the village of Foresthill to 7,000 feet above sea level at its highest point, the Divide held a wilderness outpost where trappers, traders and mountaineers stocked up on provisions or bartered for goods.
When word of a gold strike in neighboring territory caused a westward shift in the world’s population, much of it drifted toward the pine- and fir-trimmed Divide. With lodes of gold-rich ore buried in its mountains, and skeins of seasonal streams conveying loose flakes and chunky nuggets to its rivers, the forested finger of land was rich in gold.
One of the first to plant roots in the Divide was an Australian who went by the name of Yankee Jim. He settled into Spring Garden Canyon in 1849 and carried tales of his gold discoveries to Sacramento and San Francisco, fueling the fever of
new arrivals.
Dreamers wanting their shares of the wealth found their way up the Divide, picking and panning its deep canyons and boulder-strewn rivers. Following in their wake were merchants, equipment suppliers, innkeepers, teamsters and blacksmiths who believed that trading goods and services for gold was an easier — and more certain — way to get rich.
Up the road from Jim’s digs at Spring Canyon, the Forest House trading post was booming. Sitting at the nexus of paths leading to outlying mining settlements, the Forest House offered food, lodging and provisions to wide-eyed newcomers and wizened fortune-hunters heading on to Bath, Damascus, Last Chance, Sunny South or Michigan City.
It’s estimated that the Foresthill Divide yielded more than $10 million in gold between 1849 and 1880, but it wasn’t the only precious commodity in the vicinity; timber was another valuable resource. With thick, dark forests of oak, pine, fir, cedar and madrone, it seemed the Divide had a boundless reserve.
The days of aggressive mining and logging are gone. Now, tourism is one of the Divide’s economic strongholds.
With roads trailing off to reservoirs, campgrounds, fishing holes, off-road vehicle ranges, cross-country ski traces and hunting grounds, the Divide is a sports enthusiast’s haven. The Western States Trail, site of the 100-mile Endurance Race and Tevis Cup competitions, slices through the Foresthill Divide. There even is a small grove of majestic sequoia out on Mosquito Ridge.
Most of the boomtowns have been erased by time, with the miniscule Michigan Bluff hanging on as an isolated suburb of Foresthill. Today, Todd Valley holds the largest cluster of contemporary mountain homes on the Divide. More new abodes are settling into the Trailhead Estates tract, with parcels in Walnut Orchard also sprouting a fresh crop of modern manses.
Foresthill’s downtown district clutches a handful of young businesses in antiquated buildings that still savor an Old West flavor. Handsome school campuses, a multipurpose park and restored historic sites complement the village’s weathered structures.
A beguiling blend of rustic elements and novel enterprises, the Foresthill Divide is a slow walk along Placer County’s rugged road through history.
