The Confluence Winter 2000

1850's Auburn to Coloma Gold Rush Trail Resurrected

With John Krogsrud as our guide, Paula and myself walked the trail in late afternoon watching the sunset from the trail. It was like being in a fairytale. Lush ferns and mosses evoked J.R.R. Tolkein's mythical forests where "shadows lay by night and day, and dark things crept beneath." We did see evidence of bear all along the trail! Former Auburn State Recreation Area Trails Advisory Group member John Krogsrud rediscovered the remnant of a Gold Rush era trail that runs through the heart of the proposed American River Confluence Parkway (ARC Park). Using an older version of the USGS Auburn quadrangle map John spotted the trail as a single dashed black line crossing the river on the map. Using the map and a lot of intuition, honed by years of searching for obscure American River trails, John was able to piece the trail together. Historic research in the Placer Herald links the trail to Tamaroo Bar, named for the "Ship Tahamaroo" which brought the first miners around Cape Horn to San Francisco in 1849. Some of the men on the ship began their mining endeavors at this location on the American River. A ferry crossing was established at Tamaroo Bar in 1852 by Thomas Williams linking the Auburn to Coloma trails during the Gold Rush years. Tamaroo Bar was one of the favorite haunts of the late Frank Olrich. He was able to identify "Tamaroo" as an Australian word meaning rowdy. What an appropriate name for one of the first named mining bars on the American near Auburn! The Placer County remnant of the trail now begins at the Mountain Quarry Railroad grade near Robie Point - switching along a good well built path to the river above Tamaroo Bar. Swimming or wading is the only river crossing option now. The trail then meanders rather steeply through canyon ravines and live oak forest. Occasionally rock has been stacked to make the footing better, but often the path is just a deep impression in the forest floor. Eventually the trail emerges into a rolling blue oak woodland between pointed rocks and Knickerbocker. At this point the trail connects with the Olmstead Loop Trail about a mile from Cool. Every paradise has its price and Tamaroo Trail's is poison oak. While John and friends have been clearing the path on and off for several years potent poison oak extracts a scratchy tribute.