State Route 153 (SR 153) is a very short state highway in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

El Dorado County El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento-Roseville-Ar ...

. It extends only from the junction of Cold Springs Road and SR 49, in the town of Coloma in the heart of California's

Gold Country The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold min ...

, to the monument marking the grave of James Marshall, whose finding of gold along the

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

, January 24, 1848 sparked the California Gold Rush. The exact routing is from SR 49 south on Cold Springs Road then west on Monument Road in

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is a state park of California, United States, marking the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush. The park grounds include much of the his ...

to the monument. Although the

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacram ...

has posted a sign indicating that SR 153 is "California's shortest state highway",Page containing photo of sign
taken December 28, 2004 it is not: SR 77, SR 265, SR 283, and SR 275 are all shorter. However, these highways are merely short connectors between other highways.

Route description

The route connects SR 49 in Coloma with the monument to James Marshall in

, via south on Cold Springs Road then west on Monument Road. SR 153 is neither signed at the SR 49/Cold Springs Road intersection nor at the Cold Springs/Monument Road junction. The only SR 153 marker is on Monument Road with another sign below it claiming that the route is "California's shortest state highway". The Monument Road portion of the highway is quite narrow, and appears to end at a park employee residence. There is an easily overlooked sign which indicates that the road continues across, as a very narrow one way road, in front of the yard of the residence. There is a parking lot on the right just before the park employee residence, but there is also a smaller parking area closer to the monument on the loop road that circles it. The highway officially terminates at the monument, but since the last short segment is one way, one cannot legally retrace one's route if they drive all the way to the monument. The one lane, one way road continues on past its junction with the loop road, down the hill and passes Marshall's cabin, ending at the junction of Church and High streets. One can then use Church Street to get back to SR 49 and SR 153. According to the park, the narrow one way portion of the road is unsuitable for buses and large vehicles. SR 153 is not part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

Major intersections

References

External links

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Caltrans SR-153 Road Conditions

153 Year 153 ( CLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 906 ''Ab urbe con ...

State Route 153 State highways in the United States shorter than one mile

Route description

Major intersections

See also

References

External links