California State Route 49

State Route 49
Golden Chain Highway Defined by S&HC § 349, maintained by Caltrans
Length:	295.065 mi[1] (474.861 km) SR 49 is broken into pieces, and the length does not reflect the SR 140, SR 120, SR 20, and SR 89 overlaps that would be required to make the route continuous.
South end:	SR 41 at Oakhurst
Major junctions:	SR 140 at Mariposa SR 108 in Sonora SR 4 in Angels Camp SR 104 in Sutter Creek US 50 in Placerville I-80 in Auburn SR 20 in Nevada City
North end:	SR 70 at Vinton
State highways in California (list - pre-1964) < SR 47 US 50 > History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 49 crossing the American River North/Middle Fork, as seen from Foresthill Bridge (the SR-49 bridge is unseen)

The South Fork of the Yuba River as it intersects with Hwy 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 a portion of it is known as the Gold Country Highway. This roadway begins at Oakhurst, Madera County, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 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.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System^[3].

Route description

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (December 2008)

Listed in order from south to north.

• Robinson's Ferry (California Historical Landmark #276, postmile CAL 0.6), a ferry across the Stanislaus River established in 1848.
• Birthplace of Archie Stevenot (CHL #769, postmile CAL 3.3), who helped found the California State Chamber of Commerce and was officially named "Mr. Mother Lode" by the California legislature.
• Carson Hill (CHL #274, postmile CAL 3.3), where the largest gold nugget in California (195 pounds troy) was found.
• Angels Camp (CHL #287), one of the richest quartz mining sections of the Mother Lode and home of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
• Altaville (CHL #288), an important foundry town.
• Fourth Crossing (CHL #258), Calaveras County an important stagecoach and freighting depot that served the southern mines until after the turn of the 20th century (postmile 14.0).
• San Andreas (CHL #252), where Charles Bolles, also known as "Black Bart", was tried and sentenced.
• Chili Gulch (CHL #265, postmile CAL 26.4), site of the Chilean War.
• Mokelumne Hill (CHL #269), the richest placer mining section of Calaveras County and one of the principal mining towns of California.
• Big Bar (CHL #41) 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 (CHL #39) is the only structure remaining of Butte City, prosperous mining town of the 1850s.
• Argonaut and Kennedy Mines (CHL #786), two of the highest-yielding gold mines in the state.
• Drytown (CHL #31) is the oldest town and first in which gold was discovered in Amador County.
• Coloma (CHL #143, #530, and #748) home of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, where gold was first discovered in 1848, sparking the gold rush.
• Empire Mine in Grass Valley (registered landmark #298) was the richest hard-rock mine in California in its mining history of 106 years (1850-1956).
• Camptonville is a gold rush town where the Pelton wheel was invented and is a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

Other names

SR 49 in Tuolumne County

Route 49 has the following names, as designated by various state laws:^[4]

• Golden Center Freeway: From Grass Valley to Nevada City.
• Golden Chain Highway: Entire route.
• John C. Begovich Memorial Highway: From Jackson to Route 88.
• Mother Lode Highway: From Sonora to Auburn.

Major intersections

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile [1][5][6]	#[7]	Destinations	Notes
Madera MAD 0.00-9.28	Oakhurst	0.00		SR 41 – Yosemite, Fresno
		4.49		Road 600, Sunrise Drive – Raymond
Mariposa MPA 0.33-48.84	Mariposa	18.50 21.22[N 1]		SR 140 west – Merced	South end of SR 140 overlap
		22.00[N 1] 18.51		SR 140 east / Jones Street – Yosemite	North end of SR 140 overlap
				Old Toll Road – Hornitos, Snelling
	Bear Valley	29.45		CR J16 (Bear Valley Road) – Hornitos, Snelling
	Coulterville	44.67		SR 132 west – La Grange, Modesto
				CR J132 east (Main Street) – Greeley Hill, Yosemite
Tuolumne TUO 0.00-R27.52		R6.47 R23.90[N 2]		SR 120 east – Yosemite	South end of SR 120 overlap
		15.52[N 2] R8.78		SR 120 west – Oakdale	North end of SR 120 overlap
		R11.59		SR 108 west – Modesto	South end of SR 108 overlap
	Jamestown	14.74		CR E5 (Rawhide Road) / Humbug Street
	Sonora	16.48		SR 108 east – Pinecrest	North end of SR 108 overlap
		17.97		Washington Street	Former SR 108 east
		20.40		CR E18 (Parrots Ferry Road) – Columbia
		23.71		CR E5 (Rawhide Road) – Jamestown
Calaveras CAL R0.00-30.87	Angels Camp	7.21		Old Highway 4 – Murphys, Arnold, Bear Valley, Markleeville	Former SR 4 east
		8.67		SR 4 – Murphys, Copperopolis, Farmington, Stockton
	San Andreas	18.79		Mountain Ranch Road – Mountain Ranch, Sheep Ranch
		19.41		SR 49 Hist. (Main Street)	Former SR 49 north
		R20.50		SR 12 west – Valley Springs, Stockton
		R22.21		SR 49 Hist. (Gold Strike Road)	Former SR 49 south
	Mokelumne Hill	27.61		SR 26 – Valley Springs, West Point
Amador AMA 0.00-22.12	Jackson	4.03		SR 88 east – Pine Grove, Woodfords	South end of SR 88 overlap
	Martell	5.93		SR 88 west – Stockton	North end of SR 88 overlap
	Sutter Creek	6.98		SR 104 (Ridge Road)
				Old Route 49, Valley View Drive – Sutter Creek, Amador City	Former SR 49 north
				Old Highway 49 – Amador City, Sutter Creek	Former SR 49 south
	Central House	14.72		SR 16 west – Sacramento
	Plymouth	17.22		CR E16 (Shenandoah Road) / Main Street – Fiddletown, River Pines
El Dorado ED 0.00-38.23	El Dorado	9.64		Pleasant Valley Road – Sacramento	Former US 50 west
				Forni Road	Former US 50 east
	Diamond Springs	11.24		Missouri Flat Road to US 50
		11.86		Pleasant Valley Road, Fowler Lane
	Placerville	14.90		US 50 (El Dorado Freeway) – Lake Tahoe, Sacramento
		15.69		SR 193 – Georgetown
	Coloma	22.87		Cold Springs Road (SR 153)
				Lotus (Lotus Road)
				Rattlesnake Bar Road – Folsom Lake
	Cool	34.47		SR 193 east – Greenwood, Georgetown	South end of SR 193 overlap
Placer PLA 0.00-11.37	Auburn	3.21		I-80 (SR 193 west) – Reno, Sacramento	Interchange; north end of SR 193 overlap
		6.38		Bell Road to I-80	Serves Auburn Municipal Airport
Nevada NEV 0.00-R32.64		2.19		Combie Road, Wolf Road – Lake of the Pines
	Grass Valley	South end of freeway
		R13.66		McKnight Way, South Auburn Street
		R14.48 R12.30[N 3]		SR 20 west / Empire Street – Marysville	South end of SR 20 overlap
		R12.92[N 3]	182A	SR 174 – Colfax, Grass Valley
		R13.61[N 3]	182B	Idaho Maryland Road, East Main Street – Grass Valley
		R14.80[N 3]	183	Brunswick Road
		R15.92[N 3]	185A	Gold Flat Road, Ridge Road	Signed as exit 185 westbound
	Nevada City	R16.74[N 3]	185B	Sacramento Street – Nevada City	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		R16.99[N 3]- R17.24[N 3]	186	Broad Street, Coyote Street – Nevada City
		North end of freeway
		R17.40[N 3] 15.06		SR 20 east / Uren Street – Truckee	North end of SR 20 overlap
		15.81		West Broad Street, Cement Hill Road – Nevada City
		27.52		Pleasant Valley Road – French Corral, Bridgeport
Yuba YUB R0.00-9.37		3.59		CR E20 (Marysville Road)
Sierra SIE 0.00-64.05		R34.31		Gold Lake Road – Blairsden, Gold Lake, Graeagle
		47.44 19.96[N 4]		SR 89 north – Calpine, Graeagle, Blairsden, Quincy	South end of SR 89 overlap
	Sattley			CR A23 (Westside Road)
	Sierraville	15.06[N 4] 47.45		SR 89 south – Truckee	North end of SR 89 overlap
	Loyalton			CR A24 (4th Street)
Plumas PLU 0.00-7.50	Vinton	7.50		SR 70 – Beckwourth, Quincy, Reno

References

External links

• WestCoast Roads- State Route 49
• Caltrans: Route 49 highway conditions
• California Highways: SR 49
• History Highway 49
• Weather on Highway 49 in Angels Camp, CA