Mountain Quarries Railroad Bridge

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Auburn State Recreation Area

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 0.5 miles / 0.8 km
Duration: 1 hour or less

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Overview: This short walk brings you up to and then across the Mountain Quarries RailRoad Bridge, which was the longest concrete arch railroad bridge in the world when it was built in 1912. Enjoy great views of the Middle Fork American River Canyon and marvel at what was a fantastic feat of construction for its time.

The triple span bridge was built by the Mountain Quarries Company and the Pacific Portland Cement Company for the purpose of hauling limestone from the nearby quarry to Auburn, 7 miles away. Trains ran across the bridge down to the quarry 4 times daily until the quarry was abandoned. In 1942 the tracks were pulled out for scrap metal for WWII.

You might also hear the bridge called the "No Hands Bridge". This is a throwback from the early years of the Tevis Cup Trail Ride, an equestrian race that goes from Squaw Valley in Tahoe to Auburn. Challenged by onlookers who noted the bridge's former lack of guard-rails, one of the riders, Ina Robinson, would drop her reins and go across "No-Hands". The bridge now does have metal guard rails, but the name has stuck with it.

Points of Interest

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Trailhead

Park along the side of the road and walk around the gate to begin the walk.

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Remains of old bridge

See the remains of the old bridge from here and take an optional path down to the river if you choose.

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Bridge Construction

The Mountain Quarries bridge featured innovative design characteristics and construction techniques for its time. One example is the twisted steel you can see at this point that was used to reinforce the concrete to support much larger loads over a span. Another example is the way that the concrete pillars are oriented in the river. This was done to provide the minimal impact possible to the water passing beneath the bridge.

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View from the bridge

From the bridge you can see the American River below. If you walk to the far end of the bridge, there is a sign with some information about the bridge's history and significance.

Pictures in this guide taken by: chris

How does this work?

Probably catch heck from some but, being a local. I value this location and suggest for those who like water include a swim in you outing to this site. There is some calm water beach area after the spring flows recede located south of the bridge just below the rocks (point 3) on the trail map. September and early October warm days are delightful as the summer grounds are gone.
Visited on Sep 15, 2010

by cmoreride on Apr 30, 2011

The view from the top of the bridge was pretty cool, but it isn't worth going out of your way for--the best view of the historical bridge is probably from Hwy 49, not on the trail.
Visited on Oct 26, 2010

by chris on Jan 27, 2011