Where the old road still whispers.

Mariposa Highlands sits high on Penon Blanco Peak. The name comes from the Spanish Peñón Blanco, "white rock," for the quartz that runs through these hills. Here is the story of this corner of the foothills, as far as the records can tell it.

1. The name

   "White rock"

   In Spanish, Peñón Blanco means "white rock." The name comes from the white quartz that runs through these hills. Gold is often found in quartz, which is why the miners came. Penon Blanco Road is built on that white quartz: look along the edges of the road, or where the base rock shows through worn asphalt, and you can still see it.

2. 1849

   A Mexican and Chilean gold camp

   During the California Gold Rush, Mexican and Chilean miners started a gold camp here called Penon Blanco. A historical marker near the old camp says California's Foreign Miners Tax of 1852 caused the camp to be abandoned.

   

   

   

3. 1866

   The Oro Rico Mine

   A historical marker placed by E Clampus Vitus says the nearby Oro Rico Mine was the first mine in California to apply for a patented mining claim, in 1866. A patented claim is one where the government gives the miner full ownership of the land.

4. 1869

   John Muir passes through

   In June 1869, a young John Muir walked into the Sierra with a flock of sheep, the journey he later wrote about in My First Summer in the Sierra. His route passed through Penon Blanco, and researchers who followed it believe he came along what is now Penon Blanco Road. In the book, Muir writes that on June 5, 1869, from the first bench of the mountain here, he saw the Horseshoe Bend of the Merced River and "made hurried notes and a sketch." The book includes his drawing, Horseshoe Bend, Merced River.

   

   

5. June 17, 1874

   The first stagecoach road into Yosemite Valley

   In the early 1870s, foothill towns raced to build the first road for stagecoaches into Yosemite Valley. Coulterville won: the Coulterville Road reached the valley floor first, on June 17, 1874. Just 29 days later, a rival road from Big Oak Flat opened to the north, on the route that became today's Hwy 120. Over time traffic moved north, and our corner of the hills became quiet. We call Penon Blanco Road one of the lost roads to Yosemite.

6. 1870s

   A rest stop before the climb

   Penon Blanco Road was once a shortcut from Don Pedro Bar toward Big Oak Flat that skipped Coulterville. Travelers by horse and carriage stopped overnight at the bottom of our property, where a barn still stands, to rest before the climb. Extra horses waited there to help pull carriages up the steep grade to the top, where our cabins are today. That steep climb is what gives the land its views.

7. 1936

   The fire lookout on the peak

   The Civilian Conservation Corps built a fire lookout at the top of Penon Blanco Peak in 1936. It is a CAL FIRE facility and the structure itself isn't open, but you can hike to the peak from our property, get close, and take in an incredible view.

8. 1967

   Dam workers on the hillside

   Work on New Don Pedro Dam, on the Tuolumne River, began in 1967 and finished in 1971. During those years some of the people working on the dam lived here on the hillside, in Spartan trailers that stayed for decades. Our Airstreams are a nod to them.

   

Sources: historical markers, county histories and published accounts; photo credits are under each image. See the Gold Rush and the lost road guide. Written by the Mariposa Highlands family.