Folsom Lake Granite Bay

Western, backside of NFD viaduct, #Instagram — Viaduct of North Fork Ditch.

Folsom Lake, History, Gold Rush, Mining, American River, Pictures, Maps — Hidden History Beneath Folsom Lake, Folsom Dam to Rock Springs is the first book in a series of five that captures the historical gold rush sites revealed by the record low water levels of Folsom Lake during the 2014 – 2015 drought. Download it for free.

Before modern day Folsom Lake was filled, there was a community at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the American River. When the lake was extra-ordinarily dry in the summer of 2009, I took several photos of the the structures that existed before the the dam was built. The history associated with the old North Fork Ditch captured me such that I have been documenting more of the natural beauty and history of the area. See more pictures at Folsom Lake Pictures

Blog posts on Folsom Lake and Granite Bay, History, Hiking, Gold Mining

Granite Bay should be designated as cycling friendly community

Folsom Lake Peninsula Drought Hike

Hiking around Goose Flats and Zantgraf Mine

1910 Water Canal Map of American River

Rose and Rock Springs continued to bubble up even during drought

Salmon Falls Bridge to Bridge Hike

Folsom Lake Peninsula Drought Hike

Will drought create a residential water market?

Residents must conserve so Placer County can sell water to Bay Area

Granite Bay goes brown to conserve water during 2015 drought

American River images before Folsom Lake

Granite Bay water consumption drops without price hikes

Searching for George Reppert’s grave site at Folsom Lake

Granite Bay Golf Club may be using historic Rose Springs water for irrigation

My cheap water Northern California water doesn’t foster conservation

Anderson Island bridge and Zantgraf Mine hike at Folsom Lake

Biking and Hiking the North Fork Ditch

Hiking down the Folsom Lake Peninsula

Hydroplane boat races visit Granite Bay, Folsom Lake

South Fork American River Trail, Salmon Falls Bridge to Hiway 49

Folsom to Roseville, California Central Railroad

Olive orchards along the Pioneer Express Trail Folsom

North Fork and Rose Spring Ditch through the lake and Granite Bay

Historic Granite Bay Gold mine

Mining Bars, Viaduct American River Folsom Lake

Folsom to Granite Bay: Sacramento, Placer and Nevada Railroad

Folsom Prison Canal Trail Run

Pioneer Express Trail: Rattlesnake bar to Birdsall dam site, Avery’s Pond, North Fork Ditch

Granite Bay Folsom Lake Trails

Mountain Bikes are destroying trails around Folsom Lake

Anderson Island suspension bridge cables

Cables and chiseled cut out mark the location of the 19th century suspension bridge that carried a water pipe over the North Fork of the American River, from the North Fork Ditch, to the mines on the east side of river which had very little water.

Mormon Island Folsom Lake 20% capacity

Rattlesnake Bar Bridge New Years Day 2014

Recording of the free flowing American River on January 1, 2014 at Rattlesnake Bar and Horseshoe Bar.

Click to enlarge thumbnails. Most of these photos are from various blog posts I have done.

PGE_newcastle_power_plant_discharging_water — PG&E Newcastle Powerhouse discharging water after turning electrical turbine.

horse_watering_spring_avery_pond — Watering spring as you enter Avery’s pond on the North Fork Ditch.

historic_birdsall_dam_auburn_irrigation_canal — Rock, masonry, steel reinforce remnant of the north side of the Birdsall Dam, 1898.

hand_made_rock_support_water_canal — Sturdy rock retaining walls to support the ditch still stand next to American River.

filled_north_fork_ditch_trail — This part of the Pioneer Express Trail is actually dirt filled North Fork Ditch.

exposed_concrete_lined_canal_rock_support — Rock work has fallen away exposing the concrete lining of the North Fork Ditch.

concrete_water_canal_overflow_auburn_historic — Over flow down stream of Birdsall dam to release excess flows.

Folsom_lake_rr_water_ditch — Aerial view of railroad and north fork ditch in Folsom Lake.

8a_Timber_Folsom — 8a Timber (railroad tie?) I unearthed near where SPN RR would have crossed North Fork Ditch.

8_Folsom_lake_SPNRR — 8 Both North Fork Ditch and SPN RR would have headed toward today’s Dyke 5 of Folsom dam. This could be the old railroad grade.

trail_intersection_erosion — Trail intersection with significant erosion which is getting worse.

mountain_bike_folsom_lake — Even the best rider can get tossed mountain biking around Folsom Lake

vertical_ditch — Historical North Fork Ditch Story

rose_spring_siphon_outlet — Rose Spring Ditch siphon outlet in front of Folsom Dam Dyke 5.

Bridge_timbers — Excavated bridge timbers in front of Dyke 5 where old bridge crossed NFD.

27_mine_shaft_depth — 27. Entrance to old place gold mine on ridge above North Fork Ditch.

25_Ridge_pit — 25. Pit at top of ridge for gold historic gold mine?

23_north_fork_guage — 23. One of many concrete structures to meter the flow and divert water in the North Fork Ditch.

19_north_fork_mooney_ridge — 19. Exposed concrete lining of North Fork Ditch looking toward Mooney Ridge.

17_North_Fork_Ditch_Reservoir — 17. Water way leading to the old North Fork Reservoir built in 1916.

15_north_fork_ditch_baldwin_reservoir — 15. North Fork Ditch leading to Baldwin Reservoir, built 1928 for extra storage.

11_rose_spring_baldwin_reservoir_diversion — 11. Cut to divert water from Rose Spring Ditch into Baldwin if necessary.

7_Folsom_lake_low_water — 7. Folsom at low water showing deep cut to dewater pond and faint traces of old North Fork Ditch on left.

5_rose_spring_siphon_entrance — 5. Entrance to 2nd siphon on the Rose Spring Ditch.

Picture_map_3 — Map 3 of North Fork Reservoir picture locations.

Ditch_road_placement — Approximate lines of North Fork Ditch, Folsom Topo Map 1954

ridge_profile — Profile of ridge looking north from Beals Point at low lake level. North Fork Ditch would have run from right to left in this picture.

mine_shaft_depth — Looking down the Granite Bay mine shaft, notice the smooth cobble stone rocks and length of excavation.

Pioneer_express_trail_plaque — The hidden plaque commemorating the Pioneer Express Trail, north of Beal’s Point above the bike path and lake.

olive_processing_1900 — Foundation of olive oil processing business looks of similar construction to a flour mill built in the 1880’s next to the American River a short distance away.

old_folsom_dam_canal — Remnants of the first Folsom Dam and canal that fed water to the old Folsom Power House.

olive_orchard_folsom — The Pioneer Express Trail as you come into the olive orchard.

folsom_historic_irrigation_canal — Old irrigation canal normally under the water line of Folsom Lake, that fed water to Baldwin Reservoir and probably the olive orchard.

folsom_historic_olive_trees — Nice canopy created by the surviving olive orchard.

Aerial_view_pioneer_trail_folsom — Aerial view of the Pioneer Express Trail that winds through the old olive orchard.

Orangevale_cut_soil_profile — CCRR road cut along Orangevale Ave.

California Central Railroad CCRR — CCRR steams over American River heading towards Roseville and Lincoln, early 1860’s

u_bolt_granite — Square U bolt fastened in granite block on the north side of the lake. You never know what you’ll find.

trail_canal — Great trail for walking or running on top of the canal levy.

original_folsom_dam_4 — Northern view of dam and canal started in 1889, finished in 1893

head_gates_outlet — Outlets controlled by the head gates on the opposite side of the canal levy.

concrete_canal_lining — North side of canal was often granite reinforced with concrete mixture. Old pictures show a rail road traveling on top of the canal levy.

Lake_natoma_new_bridge — Lake Natoma Crossing bridge over lake Natoma.

Lake_natoma_dredge — Historic photo of gold dredge that changed the landscape around the river so dramatically.

view_down_river_canyon — View looking down the canyon at what would have been a dam and a huge lake.

24. Floating rocks at Beek's Bight. — 24. Floating rocks at Beek’s Bight.

19. Doton's Point from the Bench — 19. Doton’s Point from the Bench

Security cameras at Folsom Lake — These newly installed security cameras at Folsom Lake seem better suited for the prison across the river.

Suspension bridge at Rattlesnake Bar, American River. — 1862 Rattlesnake Bar, www.bridgemeister.com/list.php?type=full&page=2

rattlesnake_bridge — Remnants of the old Rattlesnake Bar Bridge, January 2009.

Hike to Avery’s Pond

PG&E Flume, built 1931, carries water over Auburn-Folsom Rd. to the last hydro-power plant, Newcastle, which finally releases the water in Folsom Lake above above Rattlesnake Bar.

Chinese, Gold, Miners, Auburn, Ravine, Artifacts — A Newcastle resident has found many interesting Gold Rush-era artifacts in and around his property along Auburn Ravine stream bed where extensive 19th century gold mining was undertaken. Shown here are Chinese pottery fragments similar to the partial rice bowl I found at Doton’s Bar when Folsom Lake was at historically low water levels during the drought of 2015.

A nice easy hike will take you from the parking lot of Rattlesnake Bar boat launch all the way to Avery Pond (which was a mud settling pond for the North Fork Ditch) and you can continue to the PG&E Newcastle Power Plant. Look for the old remnants of the irrigation canal. Water was fed into the canal at the terminus of the PG&E water canals that feed the water through a series of hydro-electric turbines. The canals wound its way around modern day Folsom lake providing water to farms and eventually to the Baldwin Dam on the other side of Auburn Folsom Road.

This essay first appeared in the periodical California Northern Spring 2011

When we moved to Folsom Lake, from our home in Elk Grove to be closer to our parents, I never guessed that I would be spending every single weekend there. Oddly enough, I grew up in Citrus Heights, a suburb of Sacramento and relatively close to the lake. I spent two summers being a Junior Lifeguard at the lake back in the ‘70’s, but did not venture out to the lake much after junior high school. We are fortunate that in less than a mile from our home we can be at the lake. Folsom Lake is a State Recreation Area, and while very popular, I imagine there are few who are as attached to it as I am and visit it regardless of the season.

In roughly the center of Folsom lake is the intersection of northeast Sacramento County, southwest Placer County and northwest El Dorado County, approximately 25 miles from downtown Sacramento. A subtle, but striking, feature is the difference in parent material of the soil between the Placer County west side and the El Dorado eastern side. You first notice that the eastern side does not have the quantity or diversity of oak trees. Next you see that the soil has more of a reddish hue on the eastern side. Finally, the eastern side has virtually none of the granitic outcroppings that the west side has. How the earth can be so very different between one side of the American river and the other has always fascinated me.

In the summer, I can feel the familiar crunch of the decomposed granite underneath my bike tires as I pull onto the trail. The air is heavy with the smell of grass and dust. The temperature in the Sacramento Valley often tops 100 degrees for days in a row. I can barely keep the sweat out of my eyes as I ride to the top of the levy to gaze out at the blue water of Folsom Lake. There are boaters, jet skis, and beach bathers everywhere I look taking advantage of the cool water on this warm day. The only animals around are the lizards that sometimes stir along the trail and the occasional rattlesnake. Most of them know better than this mountain biker to stay out of the heat.

Further down the trail I ride past the picnic grounds at Granite Bay Beach and the smell of summer barbeques fills the air. I ride past barbeques filled with hamburgers, hot dogs. Mothers chase their kids around with sunscreen. I hear people complain about all the congestion at the lake and all the people who take up the picnic areas, but I love to see these families enjoying the lake and having fun together outside. Listen closely to America at Folsom lake. You will here a collage of Spanish, English, Hmong, Cantonese and Hindi all coming from different families feasting at picnic tables next to one another. While there are many languages, the laughter and squealing of joy from little children playing is universal. Granite Bay State Park has brought an international flair to Placer County even if the surrounding neighborhoods don’t know it.

I continue to struggle up the hill toward the back part of the park where there are more hills, steeper slopes, and piles of horse manure to maneuver around. Horses and their riders follow the same trail, and the dust they kick up sticks to my face.

In autumn the lake water level is at its lowest exposing granite outcroppings that look like miniature versions of the monoliths in Yosemite. Folsom Lake is relatively new. The dam which created it was built-in 1956 at the confluence of the north and south forks of the American River. As with any good Bureau of Reclamation project, the recreational aspects of Folsom lake were hyped up along with the obvious benefits of flood protection, irrigation, and electricity. But the land had an entirely other life before the dam: Native Americans lived here, eventually pushed aside by gold prospectors, who became farmers and ranchers, until finally this man-made reservoir took over. When the water is very low, it’s possible to see and even walk around the outlines of old roads, irrigation canals, bridges and house foundations of the pre-dammed valley.

If you travel up the lake far enough, above the water level will be the remnants of the concrete line irrigation canal. This canal was the final leg of water that had traveled through many power plants and was used for local pasture and orchard irrigation before it terminated at Baldwin dam in north Folsom. The confluence of the south fork of the American river and the north fork must have been a beautiful site to behold from the surrounding foothills. Today we treasure the confluence of the north and middle forks of the American river in Auburn.

The autumn rains wash off the summer’s dustiness and bring a green carpet of grass to the hillsides and under the trees. Now that the temperature is significantly cooler, only trail runners, bikers, and horses are left taking advantage of the lake. The roar of jets skis and speedboats has been replaced with calm bass fisherman enjoying some solitude, and it is often quiet enough to hear the sirens at Folsom prison, just on the other side of the dam. The park is a classic oak savannah woodland, and since the live oaks only lose about half of their leaves in the fall, the trail has a hazy shade to it. If I’m lucky, I glimpse one of the few bald eagles that come here to fish during the fall.

With winter’s onset, trunks and branches of the oak trees are covered in moist lichen and moss. Clumps of fern stands along the trail side reawaken after going dormant in the summer heat. On especially cold mornings, steam rises from the warmer lake water, the thick valley fog will envelope the low foothills, and running the trails can make me feel like I am running in another world entirely. After a rainstorm, the little kid comes out in me as I ride my bike through the big puddles splashing water and mud all over the place.

The huge expanse of black top, filled in the summer with trucks and boat trailers during the summer, is deserted in winter. Parking lots become runways for model airplanes that soar high in the air with an engine whine that is oddly pleasant. Winter is also the time when many of the bike and trail running races take place because the park is virtually vacant. With the water this low and when the fog clears, I can see the finger of peninsula land that divided the north and south forks of the American.

By the time warmer temperatures bring on spring, stands of poison oak are sprouting new leaves, and the grasses are knee-high. Wildflowers cover the hillsides and my fellow bikers return to the trails, along with the horses. I lament that I have lost my solitary rides for the next few months. But I am excited to see the energy that my fellow trail lovers bring to the lake.

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