County Line Road is an

unimproved road A dirt road or track is a type of unpaved road not paved with asphalt, concrete, brick, or stone; made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Dirt roads are suitable ...

between the

San Antonio Valley The community of San Antonio Valley, also called San Antonio or San Antone, is located along the Diablo Range in eastern Santa Clara County, California. The locale is bordered by Alameda County to the north and Stanislaus County to the east. ...

and Fifield Ranch that closely follows the east–west divide of the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

and the County boundary of

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

, and

Stanislaus County, California , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , i ...

.County Line Road, Henry W. Coe State Park, California
from trails.com, accessed January 5, 2019 This road followed the route called

La Vereda del Monte La Vereda del Monte (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Mountain Trail") was a backcountry route through remote regions of the Diablo Range, one of the California Coast Ranges. La Vereda del Monte was the upper part of La Vereda Caballo, (Spanish fo ...

, used by Californio

mesteñeros Mesteñeros, or mustang runners, were people in Western North America in the 19th and early 20th century, usually vaqueros or cowboys, that caught, broke and drove wild horses, called mesteños or mustangs, to market in the Spanish and later Mexican ...

and the gang of

Joaquin Murrieta Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo (sometimes spelled Murieta or Murietta) (1829 – July 25, 1853), also called the Robin Hood of the West or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a Mexican-American figure of disputed historicity. The novel '' The Life and A ...

and other bandits and horse-thieves, and sites of three of their camps along the route are found along it. Two sites are now state park campgrounds, the last is at ranch dating back to the 1860s.

Route

County Line Road begins at the end of the 3.6 miles of the Upper San Antonio Road. The last 1.8 miles of which is a hiking, biking, and horse trail within

Henry Coe State Park Henry W. Coe State Park (often known simply as Henry Coe or Coe Park) is a state park of California, United States, preserving a vast tract of the Diablo Range. The park is located closest to the city of Morgan Hill, and is located in both Sa ...

. County Line Road within

Henry W. Coe State Park Henry W. Coe State Park (often known simply as Henry Coe or Coe Park) is a state park of California, United States, preserving a vast tract of the Diablo Range. The park is located closest to the city of Morgan Hill, and is located in both Sa ...

and Orestimba Wilderness is used as a hiking, biking, and horse trail. It is 29.6 miles long within the State Park and begins at altitude of 2,134 feet. Traveling the entire trail is 59.4 miles.

History

What became the County Line Road was originally a trail, used by Native Americans to travel along the divide of the

. It was later used by

Californio Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...

and other

from the early 1840s to drive

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

horses to

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

for sale and was known as La Vereda del Monte. The gang of

used the trail in the early 1850s to drive stolen horses and mustangs to their base at the

Arroyo de Cantua Cantua Creek, formerly in Spanish Arroyo de Cantúa, was named for José de Guadalupe Cantúa, a prominent Californio Ranchero in the 19th-century Mexican era of Alta California. The creek was formerly a tributary of the Fresno Slough, in years ...

. Three of the mesteñeros camps were found along or nearby its route,

Valle Atravesado Valle Atravesado, (Crossed Valley), a small, east-west running valley that crosses the north-south running valley of the upper reach of Mississippi Creek in the Diablo Range, in Santa Clara County, California. History Valle Atravesado was so name ...

Valle Hondo Valle Hondo (Deep Valley), a small flat in the canyon along the course of North Fork Pacheco Creek in Henry W. Coe State Park in Santa Clara County, California. It lies at an elevation of . Formerly a Native American rancheria, then an overnight ca ...

and Estación Romero. Droves of wild horses were held at

Mustang Flat Mustang Flat is a flat in the Diablo Range in Stanislaus County, California. It lies at an elevation of south of the South Fork Orestimba Creek, north of Mustang Peak. History Droves of wild horses were held at Mustang Flat and Paradise Flat an ...

and Paradise Flat and driven up along route of the Long Ridge Road to Mustang Peak to be joined to the drove moving southward along La Vereda from Valle Atrevesado or Valle Hondo. Frank F. Latta, JOAQUIN MURRIETA AND HIS HORSE GANGS, Bear State Books, Santa Cruz, California. 1980. County Line Road was built in the 20th century by Murray Hopkins who built the County Line Road along the divide of the Diablo Range between

and Pacheco Pass. He also dammed

Mississippi Creek Mississippi Creek is a tributary stream to Pacheco Creek in Santa Clara County, California. Its mouth is located at an elevation of at its confluence with the North Fork Pacheco Creek. Its source is located at on the south flank of Bear Mounta ...

, at

on its south side creating what is now a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

called

Mississippi Lake Mississippi Lake is a lake in Lanark County in Ontario, Canada. Ontario's Mississippi River flows northeast and north through the lake. Several small creeks including Cranberry Creek, McCrearys Creek, and McGibbon Creek drain into the lake from ad ...

, originally named ''Murray Lake'', on the upper reach of Mississippi Creek. Today the dam is called Mississippi Dam.see Map function a
Mississippi Lake
from mapper.acme.com for name of reservoir lake as Mississippi Lake.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:County Line Road (Santa Clara-Stanislaus counties, California) La Vereda del Monte Roads in Stanislaus County, California Roads in Santa Clara County, California Historic trails and roads in California