Path Less Traveled to Jonesville

When you take the path less traveled, you’re sure to pass the unexpected.

North Sacramento Valley color spotter Robert Kermen did just that, on a return trip from Nevada to the Sacramento Valley, choosing a route he’d taken rarely, thereby scoring a First Report for the route.

Kermen drove the historic Humboldt Wagon Road, west from Lake Almanor. It winds past Humboldt Peak, eventually crossing into Butte County above Jonesville. In Plumas County, it’s county road 307.

The route was envisioned as a toll road across the Sierra in the mid 1860s. Hotels were built at stage stops and one of California’s richest pioneers (John Bidwell) lost a fortune developing it, when the idea was surpassed by the Big Four’s (Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Collis Potter Huntington and Charles Crocker’s) Central Pacific Railroad which reached the Gold Country by 1867.

Today, the mostly forgotten route passes quiet, “surprisingly large”  meadows foraged by cattle that are grazing on autumn’s last grasses and awaiting their late autumn drive down to the Sacramento Valley.

Cowboys on horseback used to drive cattle down the Humboldt Road. Today, the cattle drive is done by truck and all that remains of that era are the cattle and an overgrown rancher’s shack that stands as a weathered remembrance of those days (40° 8’37.33″N, 121°14’54.38″W).

After crossing Humbug Summit, the road drops into Jonesville by way of Scott’s John Rd. Peaking bracken fern line the route along with Patchy aspen and alder carrying various shades of green, lime, yellow and gold.

Along the banks of Butte Creek, Indian Rhubard (Darmera) are still Patchy, their large, orange-red umbrella-shaped leaves brighten the shoreline.

Kermen recalled his family’s Jonesville cabin where as a youth he fished Butte, Colby and Jones Creeks, returning home with strings of big German brown trout.

Jonesville is having a sort of revival. The last existing stage stop along the Humboldt Rd., the Jonesville Hotel, is in the process of being restored and preserved as described HERE by the Chico News & Review.

On his drive back along memory lane, Robert Kermen found unexpected beauty along a path less traveled. 

Humboldt Road (Plumas 307) – Patchy (10-50%)