Eureka: A Trail to ‘Gold Mountain’

Most California gold discoveries began with a flash in the pan; this one began with a hike.

The year was 1851. An exploratory party of miners dispatched two members to climb Eureka Peak. The two found a quartz outcropping, rich in gold, silver and lead. The miners promptly dubbed the peak “Gold Mountain.” Their discovery became known as the “Eureka Chimney,” a mammoth deposit of ore-bearing rock that would yield more than $2 million in gold over a 14-year period.

From 1872 to 1890, a highly efficient British firm, the Sierra Buttes Mining Co., worked Eureka Peak and extracted many more millions’ worth of gold from the mountain. Seventy shafts were sunk into the peak, and more than 70 miles of tunnels were constructed in the area.

Hard-rock mining was hard work, but the miners knew how to have fun as well. Winter fun for the miners centered on sport skiing, with Eureka Peak serving as a popular downhill run. Hitting the slopes in 1870, the well-equipped skier strapped on 12-foot-long, 4-inch-wide wooden skis. Skiers carried along various concoctions of tallow, turpentine, pine pitch and castor oil, which they applied to their skis.

Primitive though the equipment may have been, winners of a three-mile-long race down Eureka Peak finished the course in 10 1/2 minutes.

Eureka Peak has another claim to fame: It may have been the site of the world’s first ski lift. One of the mines had a series of gravity-powered trams that carried ore down in buckets. The miners hopped aboard, caught a lift up the slope, then skied down.

Today, Plumas-Eureka State Park (the name is traced to an early mine) emphasizes hard-rock mining history with a museum and several historic structures. You can visit a blacksmith shop, a stable, a stamp mill, the Moriary House (a typical residence of a miner’s family, circa 1890) and a miner’s bunkhouse, now the park museum/visitors center.

The trail to Eureka Peak begins at the park’s ski area, which features a ski lift operated on winter weekends. Cross-country skiing is particularly popular on the state park’s trails. For the hiker, the route to Eureka Lake and Eureka Peak offers grand High Sierra views. The peak’s reflection in the deep blue waters of the lake is a majestic sight.

Directions to trail head: From the visitors center, follow the park road (County Road A-l4) one mile through the historic hamlet of Johnsville to road’s end at the ski area. From the parking lot, a dirt fire road ascends to Eureka Lake, where Eureka Peak Loop Trail begins. Monday through Thursday, vehicles are permitted to travel the road between the ski area and the lake; beginning your hike at the lake effectively halves the six-mile distance. Friday through Sunday, only foot traffic is permitted on the dirt road.

The hike: You’ll get a close look at the ski lift and ski bowl as you ascend the fire road. The mostly westward-traveling road bends briefly east just before it reaches Eureka Lake.

The road ends at the lake and you join the trail, which crosses over Eureka Lake’s earth-fill dam, dips in and out of a ravine, then begins a steep ascent of the silver pine- and red fir-forested Eureka Peak.

A half-mile’s ascent brings you to a junction, where you veer left, ascending to False Peak (sometimes called North Peak), elevation 7,286 feet. The best views are definitely found here. Look for Beckwourth Peak to the east, the pointed Sierra Buttes to the southeast and snow-topped Mt. Lassen (10,457 feet) on the northwest horizon.

Miners and hikers have carved their initials in the rock on the northwest side of False Peak for 120 years. But don’t add yours to the collection; defacing park features is illegal.

Continue past wind-bowed pine and hemlock, circling around the south side of the actual Eureka Peak and following the trail as it abruptly drops off the peak and descends steeply back to the loop trail junction. Retrace your steps back to Eureka Lake and the trail head.

Sierra Nevada Mountains, Eureka Peak Loop Trail Where: Plumas-Eureka State Park. Distance: 6-miles round trip, with 1,800-foot elevation gain; if ski-lift road opens, 3 miles round trip, with 1,000-foot elevation gain. Terrain: Granite peaks, pine and fir forest. Highlights: Gold-mining history, Sierra vistas. Degree of difficulty: Moderate. Precautions: Don’t venture into any open mine shafts. For more information: Contact Plumas-Eureka State Park, Johnsville Star Route, Blairsden, Calif. 96103, (916) 836-2380.