Alpine County Points of Interest
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The top rail displays the Luther Pass marker.
The bottom rail displays two Carson Trail markers,
one on each side of the rail.
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The markers are between the truck and the tall tree.
21 October 2022
(Click Photos to Enlarge)
Burnside Road
This Trails West T-marker has three plaques. One commemorates the Luther Pass Trail and two commemorate the Carson Trail.
The Luther Pass plaque reads:
Luther Pass Trail - Leaving the Carson Trail
"We crossed Carson River, for here we leave the Carson Route and take what is called the Johnson Route or 'Johnson's Cut-Off to Hangtown'." - J. Robert Brown, Sep 25, 1856
In 1854, Ira M. Luther traversed a Sierra Nevada pass for a distance of about ten miles in a covered wagon thereby opening a new trail to link the Carson Trail and the Johnson Cutoff Trail. Today the Luther Pass Trail is a stretch of State Route 89 called Luther Pass Road. Trails West, Inc. has erected five markers along the trail.
The initial route for the Pony Express across the Sierra Nevada in 1860 connected Placerville across Luther Pass to Woodfords and thence to Nevada, but the route was quickly changed to use the Kingsbury Grade instead.