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| Landmark #318 | Alpine County | Visited: July 12, 2015 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A big wooden sign at the side of the road at Ebbetts Pass! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: The Emigrant Trail through Ebbetts Pass, discovered by and named after “Major” John Ebbetts, was opened up in the early 1850s, but no wagon road went that way until 1864, when a toll road, under the name of Carson Valley and Big Tree Road, was completed to help open up the Comstock Lode in Nevada.
OTHER TIDBITS: Jedediah Smith crossed this pass in 1827 after the Mexican government told him to leave California. 23 years later, Major John Ebbetts thought this pass looked like a good route for the Transcontinental Railroad because there was no snow when he crossed through, but since this was in the high mountains, there was lots of snow soon enough! The railroad didn’t come through here at all! Major Ebbetts’s next idea was to make a road over this pass, but he died in a steam ship boiler explosion in his way to Petaluma! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: Ebbetts Pass on Hwy 4 (P.M. 18.5) 18 mi SW of Markleeville, CA 96120 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~403mi (649km) — 6.8hrs |
| When should I go? | This road is closed from November through May, so you’ll have to see this landmark between those months! |
