Audio Tour
San Francisco to Tahoe City
199miles
34stops
3h17m
Listen — all 34 stops free
1
San Francisco City Hall's Storied Past
Mile 0 — San Francisco
San Francisco City Hall is one of the largest domed structures in the world.
0:00
2
Bay Bridge's Self-Anchored Suspension Span
Mile 4 — San Francisco
The tower you're passing near is the centerpiece of the world's largest single-tower self-anchored suspension bridge.
0:00
3
Yerba Buena Tunnel and Treasure Island
Mile 4 — San Francisco
You're passing through Yerba Buena Island, the natural rock island at the midpoint of the Bay Bridge.
0:00
4
Emeryville Shellmound Buried Under Pavement
Mile 9 — Emeryville
The ground beneath the commercial buildings near here holds one of the most significant archaeological sites on the West Coast.
0:00
5
Berkeley and the University That Shaped It
Mile 12 — Berkeley
You're passing through Berkeley, home to the University of California's flagship campus, founded in 1868 and consistently ranked among the top public universities in the…
0:00
6
Richmond's Wartime Shipyard Industrial Legacy
Mile 20
Richmond built more ships during World War Two than any other city in America.
0:00
7
Carquinez Strait: A Geological Water Gap
Mile 27 — Crockett
You're crossing one of the most geologically significant water gaps in western North America.
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8
Crockett and the C&H Sugar Refinery
Mile 27 — Crockett
That massive industrial complex on the hillside is the C and H Sugar refinery, and it has dominated the town of Crockett since 1906.
0:00
9
Vallejo's Military Past Shaped This City
Mile 36
You're driving through Vallejo, a city that was actually California's state capital twice — in 1852 and again in 1853 — before legislators decided the town lacked…
0:00
10
Jelly Belly Factory and Reagan's Habit
Mile 44 — Fairfield
The Jelly Belly factory right here in Fairfield produces roughly sixteen billion jelly beans a year.
0:00
11
Peña Adobe: Solano County's Mexican Rancho Relic
Mile 52 — Vacaville
The Peña Adobe, just off the interstate here, was built in 1842 by Juan Felipe Peña, making it one of the oldest standing structures in Solano County.
0:00
12
The Nut Tree: Vacaville's Roadside Legend
Mile 56 — Vacaville
You're passing through the site of one of California's most famous roadside stops.
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13
The Great Valley's Agricultural Engine
Mile 61
You're crossing one of the most productive agricultural regions on Earth.
0:00
14
Dixon and the Sacramento Valley Floor
Mile 67 — Dixon
You're driving through some of the most productive farmland on the planet.
0:00
15
Davis: America's Most Bike-Friendly City
Mile 72 — Davis
You're passing through Davis, which has more bicycles per capita than any city in the United States.
0:00
16
Sacramento's Yolo Bypass Flood Engineering
Mile 78
The flat farmland you just crossed sits inside one of the largest flood bypass systems in the world.
0:00
17
Tower Bridge and Old Sacramento Waterfront
Mile 84 — West Sacramento
That distinctive vertical-lift bridge you can glimpse to the south is the Tower Bridge, completed in 1935.
0:00
18
Sacramento's North Grid and Flood History
Mile 92
You're driving through North Sacramento, an area that was its own independent city until 1964 when it merged with Sacramento proper.
0:00
19
Roseville Rail Yard Union Pacific Hub
Mile 101 — Citrus Heights
Just ahead in Roseville sits the J.R. Davis Yard, the largest railroad classification yard west of the Mississippi River.
0:00
20
Rocklin's Quarries Built California's Capitol
Mile 107 — Rocklin
Rocklin's granite industry shaped Sacramento and the railroad you've been tracing since Roseville.
0:00
21
Penryn's Granite Legacy and Fruit Belt
Mile 113
You're passing through Penryn, a town that sits right on the contact zone between the Sierra Nevada granite batholith and the older metamorphic rocks of the western…
0:00
22
Newcastle Cut Through Solid Rock
Mile 118 — Auburn
The railroad cut near Newcastle required blasting and chiseling through sixty-three feet of solid rock, making it one of the most grueling excavations on the entire…
0:00
23
Auburn Gold Rush Town on I-80
Mile 119 — Auburn
Claude Chana found gold here in May 1848, just months after James Marshall's discovery at Sutter's Mill about twenty miles south.
0:00
24
The Auburn Dam That Never Was
Mile 123 — Auburn
The Auburn Dam is one of the most expensive things never built in California.
0:00
25
Applegate and the Bear River Divide
Mile 128
You're crossing the Bear River divide right now, a ridge that separates two major watershed systems.
0:00
26
Colfax Where the Real Climb Began
Mile 134 — Colfax
Colfax is where the Central Pacific Railroad started its most punishing ascent.
0:00
27
Cape Horn and the Basket Workers
Mile 134 — Colfax
Just north of here, Chinese railroad workers performed one of the most dangerous construction feats in American history.
0:00
28
Gold Run and the Toll Road Scheme
Mile 144 — Gold Run
Gold Run is where one of the cleverest financing schemes in American railroad history began.
0:00
29
Alta and the Snow Shed Legacy
Mile 150
You're passing through Alta, one of the original railroad towns built specifically to support the Central Pacific's operations over the Sierra.
0:00
30
Emigrant Gap and the Rope Descent
Mile 157 — Emigrant Gap
Emigrant Gap gets its name from one of the most harrowing moments on the entire overland route to California.
0:00
31
The Truckee River Corridor You're Following
Mile 170
The river running alongside you right now is the Truckee River, and it flows the wrong direction from what most people expect.
0:00
32
Donner Party and the Snow Line Monument
Mile 182 — Truckee
The base of the Pioneer Monument here stands twenty-two feet tall, and that height is not decorative.
0:00
33
Truckee's Rough Past and Reinvention
Mile 184 — Truckee
Truckee's downtown looks charming now, but in the 1870s and 1880s it was the site of one of California's most organized campaigns of anti-Chinese violence.
0:00
34
The Truckee River Carved This Valley
Mile 191
The road you're on follows the Truckee River, the only outlet of Lake Tahoe. That's unusual — most lakes have multiple outlets or none at all.
0:00
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Listen — all 34 stops free
1
San Francisco City Hall's Storied Past
Mile 0 — San Francisco
San Francisco City Hall is one of the largest domed structures in the world.
0:00
2
Bay Bridge's Self-Anchored Suspension Span
Mile 4 — San Francisco
The tower you're passing near is the centerpiece of the world's largest single-tower self-anchored suspension bridge.
0:00
3
Yerba Buena Tunnel and Treasure Island
Mile 4 — San Francisco
You're passing through Yerba Buena Island, the natural rock island at the midpoint of the Bay Bridge.
0:00
4
Emeryville Shellmound Buried Under Pavement
Mile 9 — Emeryville
The ground beneath the commercial buildings near here holds one of the most significant archaeological sites on the West Coast.
0:00
5
Berkeley and the University That Shaped It
Mile 12 — Berkeley
You're passing through Berkeley, home to the University of California's flagship campus, founded in 1868 and consistently ranked among the top public universities in the…
0:00
6
Richmond's Wartime Shipyard Industrial Legacy
Mile 20
Richmond built more ships during World War Two than any other city in America.
0:00
7
Carquinez Strait: A Geological Water Gap
Mile 27 — Crockett
You're crossing one of the most geologically significant water gaps in western North America.
0:00
8
Crockett and the C&H Sugar Refinery
Mile 27 — Crockett
That massive industrial complex on the hillside is the C and H Sugar refinery, and it has dominated the town of Crockett since 1906.
0:00
9
Vallejo's Military Past Shaped This City
Mile 36
You're driving through Vallejo, a city that was actually California's state capital twice — in 1852 and again in 1853 — before legislators decided the town lacked…
0:00
10
Jelly Belly Factory and Reagan's Habit
Mile 44 — Fairfield
The Jelly Belly factory right here in Fairfield produces roughly sixteen billion jelly beans a year.
0:00
11
Peña Adobe: Solano County's Mexican Rancho Relic
Mile 52 — Vacaville
The Peña Adobe, just off the interstate here, was built in 1842 by Juan Felipe Peña, making it one of the oldest standing structures in Solano County.
0:00
12
The Nut Tree: Vacaville's Roadside Legend
Mile 56 — Vacaville
You're passing through the site of one of California's most famous roadside stops.
0:00
13
The Great Valley's Agricultural Engine
Mile 61
You're crossing one of the most productive agricultural regions on Earth.
0:00
14
Dixon and the Sacramento Valley Floor
Mile 67 — Dixon
You're driving through some of the most productive farmland on the planet.
0:00
15
Davis: America's Most Bike-Friendly City
Mile 72 — Davis
You're passing through Davis, which has more bicycles per capita than any city in the United States.
0:00
16
Sacramento's Yolo Bypass Flood Engineering
Mile 78
The flat farmland you just crossed sits inside one of the largest flood bypass systems in the world.
0:00
17
Tower Bridge and Old Sacramento Waterfront
Mile 84 — West Sacramento
That distinctive vertical-lift bridge you can glimpse to the south is the Tower Bridge, completed in 1935.
0:00
18
Sacramento's North Grid and Flood History
Mile 92
You're driving through North Sacramento, an area that was its own independent city until 1964 when it merged with Sacramento proper.
0:00
19
Roseville Rail Yard Union Pacific Hub
Mile 101 — Citrus Heights
Just ahead in Roseville sits the J.R. Davis Yard, the largest railroad classification yard west of the Mississippi River.
0:00
20
Rocklin's Quarries Built California's Capitol
Mile 107 — Rocklin
Rocklin's granite industry shaped Sacramento and the railroad you've been tracing since Roseville.
0:00
21
Penryn's Granite Legacy and Fruit Belt
Mile 113
You're passing through Penryn, a town that sits right on the contact zone between the Sierra Nevada granite batholith and the older metamorphic rocks of the western…
0:00
22
Newcastle Cut Through Solid Rock
Mile 118 — Auburn
The railroad cut near Newcastle required blasting and chiseling through sixty-three feet of solid rock, making it one of the most grueling excavations on the entire…
0:00
23
Auburn Gold Rush Town on I-80
Mile 119 — Auburn
Claude Chana found gold here in May 1848, just months after James Marshall's discovery at Sutter's Mill about twenty miles south.
0:00
24
The Auburn Dam That Never Was
Mile 123 — Auburn
The Auburn Dam is one of the most expensive things never built in California.
0:00
25
Applegate and the Bear River Divide
Mile 128
You're crossing the Bear River divide right now, a ridge that separates two major watershed systems.
0:00
26
Colfax Where the Real Climb Began
Mile 134 — Colfax
Colfax is where the Central Pacific Railroad started its most punishing ascent.
0:00
27
Cape Horn and the Basket Workers
Mile 134 — Colfax
Just north of here, Chinese railroad workers performed one of the most dangerous construction feats in American history.
0:00
28
Gold Run and the Toll Road Scheme
Mile 144 — Gold Run
Gold Run is where one of the cleverest financing schemes in American railroad history began.
0:00
29
Alta and the Snow Shed Legacy
Mile 150
You're passing through Alta, one of the original railroad towns built specifically to support the Central Pacific's operations over the Sierra.
0:00
30
Emigrant Gap and the Rope Descent
Mile 157 — Emigrant Gap
Emigrant Gap gets its name from one of the most harrowing moments on the entire overland route to California.
0:00
31
The Truckee River Corridor You're Following
Mile 170
The river running alongside you right now is the Truckee River, and it flows the wrong direction from what most people expect.
0:00
32
Donner Party and the Snow Line Monument
Mile 182 — Truckee
The base of the Pioneer Monument here stands twenty-two feet tall, and that height is not decorative.
0:00
33
Truckee's Rough Past and Reinvention
Mile 184 — Truckee
Truckee's downtown looks charming now, but in the 1870s and 1880s it was the site of one of California's most organized campaigns of anti-Chinese violence.
0:00
34
The Truckee River Carved This Valley
Mile 191
The road you're on follows the Truckee River, the only outlet of Lake Tahoe. That's unusual — most lakes have multiple outlets or none at all.
0:00