Placer and Nevada counties bump borders at several spots, but none more scenic than Highway 174.
This slim strand of pavement rolls across ridges, curls into ravines and stretches across meadows as it loops between the city of Colfax and the outskirts of Grass Valley.
With the leaves of apple orchards and hardwoods changing color against the backdrop of evergreen pines, firs and cedars, the drive is sensational at this time of year.
Highway 174 starts its northwesterly course just east of downtown Colfax, generally paralleling Interstate 80. A few miles out of town, there is a historic marker and observation bench for viewing Cape Horn across the canyon.
Laying track across this fist of rock was one of the biggest challenges to builders of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1866.
Once a level bed was blasted out of the mountain, the spot became a scenic stop along the rail line, allowing passengers to enjoy spectacular views of the North Fork of the American River snaking through the gulch 1,300 feet below.
The highway continues meandering along the ridge heading for Rollins Lake before turning sharply to the west in the old Shady Glen district.
Passing the original path of the Colfax-Grass Valley Road, the newer trail coils around the mountain as it descends to the den of the Bear River.
Unleashed from the Rollins reservoir dam, the Bear roars beneath a curvaceous bridge that was erected in 1986.
Beneath the newer trestle is a concrete bridge constructed in 1924, with more architecturally detailed Roman-style single arch rails. A parking lot on the west side of the crossing has trails to fishing holes and wading pools in the watery county line dividing Placer and Nevada municipalities.
These weren’t the first links between the two counties: A stagecoach line first united them, followed in 1876 by the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad (NCNG). Its 26-mile route connected Grass Valley and Nevada City to a cluster of ranches sitting above the banks of the Bear River to the southeast.
The NCNG reportedly transported more gold than any other short line railroad in California before running its last revenue train in 1942.
The 195-foot-high steel trestle across the Bear River, the last vestige of the line, was removed in 1963 during construction of the Rollins Lake dam. Today the Gold Country Stage bus shuttles people along Highway 174, following the same general course.
After crossing the Bear, Highway 174 clambers out of the canyon and into the grassy leas of Chicago Park, one of the territory’s earliest real estate developments.
Established in 1888 by investors in the Midwest, the lots were meant to attract successful gold miners. But when the parcels didn’t sell, the subdivision went bankrupt. Although the development failed, the name stuck.
Long before developers arrived, the Overland Emigrant Trail cut through this district, helping populate the region.
Between 1840 and 1870 it carried an estimated 350,000 people across the continental U.S. to claim free land in the Oregon and California territories.
After scrambling across the cliffs and chasms of the Sierra Nevada, the convoys of wagons made the tortuous descent to Big Bend on the Yuba River, continued through Bear Valley and over Lowell Ridge to Camel’s Hump at the edge of the Tahoe National Forest.
Nearing the end of their arduous journeys at trail’s end in Wheatland, many of the emigrants dropped off the wagon trains and homesteaded land along the way. Chicago Park and the neighboring villages of Peardale and Orchard Springs grew up in the shadow of their traces.
Today, there still are working farms and seasonal fruit stands here, as well as access to resorts and campgrounds edging Rollins Lake.
Highway 174 straightens out as it sways through the mountaintops, with private lanes and gravel drives leading off the main road to homes hidden among the shaded forests or standing in broad meadows bathed in sunlight.
At the western end of the highway, between the little hamlet of Cedar Ridge and Grass Valley, sits the Empire Mine State Park, the site of a gold mining operation that ran from 1850 into the middle of the 20th century. Today it is a living history center with tours of the original owners’ summer cottage, equipment demonstrations and vintage displays.
Beyond the park, Highway 174 melds with the city’s surface streets as it heads to its intersection with Highway 49.
With canyon scenery, burnished orchards, a river crossing and historic mine, Highway 174 ties together two counties along a picturesque path.
