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Mile
From
East
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Mile from
West
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Mile Post 0
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126.2
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Beginning of the Trinity Scenic Byway
(6 miles from Redding on Interstate-5)
(126.2 from the west at US-101)
Shasta
–
Shasta Historical State Park - This is a
must stop, plan one hour. The
California Historical State Park Museum  is worth
driving to even if you are sprinting down I-5. The photo at the right is one of the
exhibits in the museum.
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4.6
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121.6
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Whiskeytown – Whiskey
Creek was named from  a whiskey
barrel that fell off a wagon and broke in the creek in the 1850’s. It now lies under 200 feet of water. The general store was moved up and is
located about a mile up the access road to Whiskey Creek. It was closed when we visited in April
2001. The lake and dam are part of California’s Central
Valley Water Project. The photo at
the left is the general store which is a couple of miles up the Whiskeytown
road. Camping information in the Whiskeytown National
Recreation Area
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9.8
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116.4
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Tower House – In 1852 Levi
Tower and Charles
Camden built a hotel here. In 1864
they helped the road from Shasta to their front door. For the next 50 years, Camden maintained the road and charged tolls
to all who used the road. By 1858
wagons could go from Red Bluff all the way to Weaverville without
transferring the freight to mules.
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9.8
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116.4
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French Gulch Side Trip  – French Gulch
is 3.1 miles to the North. A historic mining town settled by French
Canadian miners in the early 1850’s.
The gold was so rich in Clear Creek that miner’s claims were limited
to 10 feet. The photo at the right
is downtown French Gulch
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23.0
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103.3
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Lewiston Side Trip – Lewiston is 4.5
miles North of Highway 299. The old
downtown section of Lewiston
has been restored. It is a National
Historic District. The one way
bridge in Lewiston is one of the oldest
one-way bridges in California. Steelhead fishing is excellent in late
fall here. Lewiston Lake
is jumping with trout. The Trinity
River Hatchery is open to the public.
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33.4
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92.8
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Douglas City Rest Stop – Interpretive
Stop, The Discovery of Gold
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38.7
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87.5
|
Weaverville – Gold miners
founded the town of Weaverville
in 1850. Weaverville has some of the
oldest continuously used buildings in California.  The photo at
the left is the sign for the Joss House, a Taoist temple, built in 1873, is
the oldest continuously used Chinese temple in California. It has been made into a Historic State Park.
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42.4
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83.8
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La Grange
Interpretive Stop – Hydraulic Mining.
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47.2
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79.0
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Mine Tailings – The miners of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s washed away
whole mountains with hydraulic water jets in search of gold. The rock and earth left behind after the
mining is called tailings. Tailings
can be seen all along the river.
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53.8
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72.4
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Trinity River – River rafting on the Trinity River
offers waters from calm Class II waters to dangerous Class V waters.
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59.2
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67.0
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Big Flat
River Access – Interpretive
Stop, Anadromous Fish – If you look North from this stop you see the
Trinity Alps Wilderness, a 500,000 acre wilderness. It is California’s second largest wilderness.
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63.7
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62.5
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White’s Bar Picnic Area – Interpretive Stop,
Neotropical Birds.
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76.0
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50.3
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Cedar Flat Picnic Area – Interpretive Stop, Chimarico
Indians.
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77.2
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49.0
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China Slide – In the
winter of 1890 during heavy rain several Chinese miners sat in their cabin
at Burnt Ranch Gorge when there was a slide. It killed them all and created an earthen
dam close to 200 feet high. Water
backed up the river for 12 miles.
You can see the slide on the South side of the highway and the
remains of the earthen dam in the canyon.
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86.4
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39.8
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Salyer Rest Stop – Interpretive Stop, Pack
Trains.
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90.0
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36.3
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Hlel-Din – “Place where rivers come together” is where the
South Fork of the Trinity River joins the
main river. It was a major village of the Hupa Tribe and trading center for
tribes from the Klamath, Trinity, and South Fork
Rivers. Three to five hundred Native Americans
lived and worked here.
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94.2
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32.0
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Willow Creek – This was originally
a lumber and mining town. It is now
a center for summer recreation. The Trinity River
runs along 299 and has several  access
points. There are many local rafting
companies located here. Willow Creek
is the center of “Big Foot Country”,
there have been several sightings.
If you want the flavor of the town visit Cinnabar Sam’s Restaurant. Visit the Willow Creek Chamber of Commerce
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104.2
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22.0
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Berry Summit Vista Point – Interpretive Stop, Josiah Gregg.
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114.6
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11.6
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Lord-Ellis Summit – The summit was named after Blue Lake businessman Edward Ellis and
gold mine owner William Lord. Both
depended on packtrains for business survival. They petitioned the government for
improved access across these mountains.
What they received was an improved mule trail in 1895.
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126.2
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0.0
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Blue Lake – The
beginning of relatively flat ground on the voyage to the coast. In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt
signed the act bringing the Trinity Forest Reserve into existence With this act came the funds to build the
road through the federal forests.
Over the next 30 years the road was completed.
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