Michigan Bluff to Foresthill

Main street, Michigan Bluff vet check

At the intersection of Main Street and Gorman Ranch Road you leave Michigan Bluff near the old school bell perched upon a rock monument where it can be rung in case of a fire. The trail from Michigan Bluff to Foresthill angles off through Bird's Valley along the dirt-packed Gorman Ranch Road.

Shortly after Bird's Valley the road follows the Chicken Hawk Road uphill bending to the north. Near the ridge top the road forks and a left turn breaks down toward Volcano Canyon with a view of Foresthill on a distant ridge. Much like the other canyons, Volcano Canyon is like a great furrow in a vast slope or plateau with the added beauty of tall green pines and firs.

A narrow, rocky trail descends into Volcano Canyon some 800 feet in two miles to a boulder-filled crossing of Volcano Creek. An ascent of about one and a half miles leads to the west boundary of the Tahoe National Forest, the Paragon Mine, and the ghost location of the old mining camp of Bath.

Today the century-old trail through Volcano Canyon serves as a way to miss the oiled and paved roads which have invaded the area in recent time. The trail's long and tedious ascent from the depths of Volcano Creek parallels the Foresthill-Baker Ranch Road above it. Except for the main street of Michigan Bluff, the two lane road at the summit of the divide is the first real look at pavement since leaving Squaw Valley. It is at this point the trail breaks at the junction of Bath Road and the Foresthill-Baker Ranch Road before heading to the wide main street of Foresthill.

Next: Foresthill to Francisco's