State Route 512 (SR 512) was a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. It connected Kings Canyon west of Carson City to the state capitol using various city streets. The route dates to the mid-19th century, as part of a wagon trail linking

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

and Carson City that was later incorporated into the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

. SR 512 was turned over to local control in 2010.

Route description

The western terminus of SR 512 was on the western edge of Carson City near the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

in Kings Canyon. It began on Kings Canyon Road just east of Canyon Drive, where the road passes over Kings Canyon Creek. From there, the route headed eastward around a hill to enter residential areas of Carson City. After , the route intersected Ormsby Boulevard and turned into King Street. State Route 512 continued east another to Division Street, where the route turned south. The highway followed Division Street to West Fifth Street. SR 512 turned east on Fifth Street and traveled to its eastern terminus at South Carson Street ( U.S. Route 395 Business/ SR 529) just south of the state capitol complex.

History

Early history

Kings Canyon Road has a history dating before white settlers came to the Eagle Valley, where Carson City now resides. It was originally a Washo Indian trail that crossed over the mountains separating the valley from

. The trail became more prominent in the 1850s as would-be miners trekked west to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in search of gold. As the

Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United ...

contributed to the growth of areas around Carson City in the 1860s, the trail became an important part of the Bonanza road system, linking the burgeoning Comstock region and

Placerville, California Placerville (, ; formerly Old Dry Diggings, Dry Diggings, and Hangtown) is a city in and the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,747 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,389 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Sa ...

. Nevada's territorial government, realizing the need to improve access to and from the west, authorized Alfred Helm and Butler Ives to begin construction of a road through Kings Canyon in 1862. Their route, completed by November 1863 as the final segment of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road, would become the preferred route connecting Carson City to Spooner's Station east of Glenbrook. Nevada 3

After it was completed, the road saw little change or maintenance until the advent of automobiles, when the Bonanza system of wagon roads were adapted to serve the needs of vehicles. In 1913, Kings Canyon Road was selected by the

Lincoln Highway Association The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

as part of the Lincoln Highway's southern route over the Sierra Nevadas. Some improvements to the trail began in 1914, when the Carson Good Roads Association began placing route markers along the road. The road was later incorporated into Nevada's state highway system as part of State Route 3. Traffic on the route would decrease significantly starting in 1928, when a new paved route linking Carson City and Spooner's was constructed through Clear Creek Canyon to the south; SR 3 was moved to the new road, which eventually became part of U.S. Route 50.

The route today

The original Kings Canyon toll road is about long and is still open to travel. Within Carson City, SR 512 follows the alignment of the original road via portions of Kings Street and Kings Canyon Road. Outside the city west of the state highway terminus, the route is an unpaved forest road within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The Forest Service promotes the road for its historical value, but no longer maintains the roadway. Travel by

off-road vehicles An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of off-roading, driving on and off Pavement (material), paved or gravel surface. It is generally characteri ...

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

vehicles with high clearance is highly recommended, as portions of the route are rugged, steep, and can be difficult to pass. As for the route within Carson City limits, State Route 512 had been a designated highway since at least 1983. A proposal to transfer ownership of SR 512 from the

Nevada Department of Transportation The Nevada Department of Transportation (Nevada DOT or NDOT) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U.S. highways and Interstate highways within ...

to Carson City had surfaced by 2007. This action was aimed to reduce the city's required financial contributions to NDOT for the construction of the Carson City Freeway. State Route 512 was removed from the state highway system by January 2010.

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Nevada 512 @ AARoads
– Mountain biking information for the Kings Canyon Road trail
Kings Canyon to Ash Canyon Loop @ BikeCarson.com
– Photo tour of bike trails in the Lake Tahoe area, including Kings Canyon Road

512 __NOTOC__ Year 512 ( DXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paulus and Moschianus (or, less frequently, year ...