With south Placer quilting a patchwork of residential neighborhoods, shopping strips and mini-malls across the landscape, it might seem the entire county is covered in tract homes and commercial hubs.
But a trip along Mount Vernon Road proves there still are rural reaches where property owners — and their pets and livestock — have plenty of room to roam.
Trailing from west Auburn to the outskirts of Lincoln, Mount Vernon Road is part of an old skein of paths linking ranches, farms and markets. While miners picked and panned the rivers and streams in the territory in the middle of the 19th century, others homesteaded acreage to raise crops and families in the Western frontier.
Mount Vernon Road heads out of Auburn at its intersection with Palm Avenue and Nevada Street, where the vintage Duneveitz estate now holds the diminutive Heritage Oaks subdivision. After crossing the city limits, Mount Vernon Road begins its descent toward the valley.
Flowing like a slim stream, the road dips and dives, bucks and eddies as it runs past country homes on small plugs of land.
Millertown Road veers off to the left, wending through vales before plunging down to meet Wise Road. During the Gold Rush, this thin conduit continued on to the booming mining settlements at Ophir, Gold Hill and Virginiatown.
According to the Placer County Directory of 1881, a few farmers and one merchant were residents of the former hamlet of Millertown. The other inhabitants that year were prospectors, probably working seasonal streambeds and the North Ravine creek.
Decades later, the area was home to the Crystal Springs Swimming Baths, a seven-acre resort featuring picnic areas, open fire pits and a swimming pool that was heated by a wood-burning boiler. The spa developed into a multipurpose recreation center with camping, dining and Saturday night dances. It closed in 1934 after the death of its owner and never reopened.
Back on Mount Vernon Road, rows of grape vines dominate the scenery. They decorate parcels at some private residences; form the motif of The Vineyards subdivision of custom homes; and supply the products sampled at the Mount Vernon Winery’s quaint tasting room.
Several side streets curve around to intersect Highway 49, giving residents multiple ways to reach schools, shops and services.
After leaving Atwood and Joeger roads behind, Mount Vernon Road begins its descent in earnest, swinging and swaying past clusters of new homes and stretches of elderly spreads. Baxter Grade drops down on the left, coiling down through steep ravines to tie into Wise Road.
Signs along Mount Vernon Road note the locale of the 221-acre Hidden Falls Regional Park, off Mears Place, where trails pass a handful of picnic tables and benches as they lead across the former Didion Ranch. Natural features here include groves of blue oaks, Coon Creek, Deadman Creek and a year-round waterfall.
Once prime farm land, these hills still foster a few working ranches and farms. The area is enjoying a resurgence of agrarian pursuits: In 1910, there was only one commercial orchard remaining in the Mount Vernon District of the Farm Bureau; today, there are several listed on the 49er Fruit Trail.
Mount Vernon Road continues on its westward course, as views of the valley spread out below. Panoramas of the Sutter Buttes and Pacific Coast Range flit in and out of sight as the road follows the natural contours of the hilly terrain.
Relaxing as it nears the valley floor, Mount Vernon Road uncurls as it melds into Wise Road, just north of Gold Hill Road.
It’s not the longest backroad in the county. But Mount Vernon is one where free-time farmers, small-time ranchers and weekend adventurers can still find plenty of wide open spaces.