Coloma Road-Nimbus Dam

This plaque pointed somewhere else and then went missing. It stood at a boat launch on Lake Natoma, and its first line sent the reader south to Alder Springs, where the old road actually ran, because the dam and the reservoir came long after the road and left nothing here to mark. It was reported gone in 2014. Of the four Coloma Road markers, this is the one that admitted it stood in the wrong place.

What the plaque says

The Coloma Road Alder Springs, south of this point, marks the old Coloma Road, running between Sutter's Fort and Cul-luh-mah (Coloma). Established in 1847, this road was used by James W. Marshall in January 1848 to bring the first gold from Sutter's Mill to the fort. Later, travelled by thousands to and from the diggings, it became the route of California's first stageline, established in 1849 by James E. Birch. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 746 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the Sacramento County Historical Society and the Grand Parlors, Native Sons and Native Daughters of the Golden West, August 14, 1960

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sacramento — 16 mi
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.
• Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 22 mi
  The tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.

More markers nearby

• Prairie City — 3.3 mi
• Terminal of California's First Passenger Railroad — 3.5 mi
• Folsom-Overland Pony Express Route in California — 3.6 mi
• Old Folsom Powerhouse — 3.8 mi