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TRAILS WEST --
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A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE NOBLES TRAIL
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Beginning in 1854, the Nobles Trail branched off the Applegate Trail approximately one mile west of Rabbit Hole Springs. Prior to 1854, the Nobles Trail did not leave the Applegate Trail until near Black Rock Springs. The two trails are shown in the photo above. The right branch of the "Y" is the Applegate Trail; the left branch is the Nobles Trail. Photo by Bob Black. |
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Off in the distance you can see Black Rock Point with the Calico Hills in the far background. Initially, the Nobles Trail branched off the Applegate Trail near the Springs. Then when water was discovered at Trego Hot Springs, the Nobles Trail was shortened by going past Trego Hot Springs instead of Black Rock Hot Springs. Photo by Bob Black. |
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At this point, the driving road follows the Nobles Trail as it heads west to the Black Rock Playa. Along the way, the road crosses a small, un-named playa. This small playa can be as dangerous as the Black Rock Playa, but it can be bypassed by following the vehicle tracks that go around it. Photo by Bob Black. |
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As noted above, the Nobles Trail crosses over a small playa before reaching the Black Rock Playa. This small playa can be as difficult to cross as the Black Rock Playa, but it can be avoided by going to the right and following the vehicle tracks that go around the playa. The day in early May that this photo was taken the playa was dry enough to drive on. But you can see in this photo and several of the others on this page that the weather was threatening. We were rained on, snowed on, hit by hail and heavy wind, and enjoyed brief periods of bright sunlight. Photo by Dick Brock. |
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By 1859, the Trego Hot Springs, at one time known as "Hot Sulphur Springs," had been improved by building a dam and channeling the water about 400 yards to a large, man-made reservoir that was "paved" to prevent the water from peculating into the ground. At the springs, the water was hot enough to boil an egg hard in six minutes. After flowing 400 yards to the reservoir, the water had cooled enough that it could be used for cooking, bathing, and watering livestock. Today, this hot springs is very popular and and is often over-used. The BLM is making plans to renovate the area. Photo by Bob Black. |
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The emigrants were correct, the playa is as level as a house floor; it resembles, according to one emigrant who crossed it while traveling on the Nobles Trail, "sunbacked clay without a blade of grass or a bush." It is about 12 - 13 miles from where the Nobles Trail entered the playa near Trego Hot Springs to where Granite Springs are located on the west side. (The photo is looking southwest.) Care must be exercised in traveling on the playa. When it is dry, vehicles driving on it will throw up large, blinding dust clouds. Other vehicles traveling in the same area can be hidden by the dust. When it is wet, vehicles can become stuck in the wet "clay" and they will have to be pulled out by another vehicle. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE ON THE PLAYA WHEN IT IS AT ALL WET. The day this photo was taken in early May, the playa was dry most of the way across it. Near the west side,however, the playa was wet and the route became slippery and potentially dangerous. Photo by Bob Black. |
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As noted on the plate attached to Trails West Marker N-4, the Nobles Trail (1854), the South Pass & Honey Lake Wagon Road (Lander'scutoff) (1859), and the Humboldt Freight road (1862), all passed south of this sand mound. Maps of the area indicate that there was a spring located here, but emigrant diaries do not identify this spring as a source of water as they crossed the playa. Photo by Bob Black. |
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The first water the emigrants came to after crossing 12 - 13 miles of the Black Rock Playa was at Granite Springs. Some emigrants reported that a creek draining down from the Granite Range to the west was located here. Whether it was a natural springs or a creek that the emigrants found here is uncertain. What is known is that a well was dug and lined to trap the water that reportedly flowed into it. Grass was reportedly scarce near the springs or creek and emigrants described having to make a difficult trip up Granite Creek to find sufficient grass to recruit their livestock. Photo by Bob Black. |
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Many emigrants traveling the Nobles Trail commented about the many hot springs located a short distance south of Granite Springs. Reportedly, these many springs were large, deep, and hot. Today, these springs are on private property just northwest of Gerlach, Nevada. Photo by Bob Black. |
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After leaving the hot springs near present-day Gerlach, the emigrants traveled in a northwest direction to Deep or Deep Hole Springs. From there, some emigrants skirted the northern edge of Smoke Creek Desert or "Lake" as it was sometime called. This route led the emigrants past Wall Springs to Buffalo Creek and Springs. The present-day driving road follows this route. Most Emigrants saved a few miles by traveling across the "lake" directly to Buffalo Creek. Buffalo Springs were located a short distance beyond the creek. By 1859, Buffalo Springs had been improved by the addition of a line of troughs below the springs and a clay lining to prevent water from seeping back into the ground. Photos by Bob Black. |
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One of the camping areas used by the emigrants was along the banks of Smoke Creek. The lower photo, above, shows part of the creek. The upper photo shows the entrance to the primitive camping area now located where the emigrants once camped. The Nobles Trail split here with one branch, the southern, following along the south side of Smoke Creek for about 5 - 6 miles. It then rejoined the segment of trail that more or less followed the north bank of the creek. Photos by Bob Black. |
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The dirt road barely visible on the hillside in the above photo is approximately the route of the southern branch of the Nobles Trail as it drops down to rejoin the northern branch. The terrain south of smoke Creek west of the location shown above is so rough that traveling over it is impossible. Photo by Bob Black. |
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After following the valley formed by Smoke Creek some 10 - 11 miles, the Nobles Trail turned west to climb up several hundred feet to reach the table land to the west. The present-day driving road, shown as a white line in the above photo, is north of the route followed by the trail. Photo by Bob Black. |
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"Robbers Roost. Located along the old Nobles Trail, later known as the Humboldt Road, on the California-Nevada State line. While no known record exists of robberies there, other places in the West along such routes, where a road enters a very narrow space enclosed by steep rocky bluffs, made ideal settings for travelers to be attacked by robbers." From Tim Purdy's recent LASSEN COUNTY ALMANAC: AN HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA. Photo by Bob Black. |
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The dirt road shown in the photo was most likely the location of the Nobles Trail as it passed up Rush Creek Valley from Robbers Roos on the way to Mud Springs. The Nobles Trail, later the Honey Lake Road, was heavily used by freight wagons and stages. One of the stage stations along this road was at Mud Springs (now called Bull Springs) just to the southwest of where this photo was taken. Bull Springs is on private land and is no longer accessible to the Nobles Trail traveler. Photo by Bob Black. |
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This marker is located on the east side of Highway 395 as an area known as Viewland. The marker is near the low pass the Nobles Trail passed through between Mud Lake and the Honey Lake Valley. Photo by Bob Black. |
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This marker is at the location where the Nobles Trail first entered the Honey Lake Valley. It is about a mile northeast of Shaffer's Ranch, the site of a later trading post and stage station. Photo by Bob Black. |
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This marker, located just south of Litchfield along side Highway 395, is near a favorite camping area of the emigrants using the Nobles Trail along the Susan River in Honey Lake Valley. Photo by Bob Black. |
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This is the site of the first settlement in the future town of Susanville. The log house, built by Isaac Roop and his brother in 1854, is near an emigrant camping area. It was later used as a trading post when heavy traffic developed along the Nobles Trail. Photo by Bob Black. |
| You are now in Susanville. This is a good place to stop this segment of the Nobles Trail virtual tour. You could now stop the tour and return to the Site Map, or you could continue on with the tour. Which would you like to do? |