Noble’s Emigrant Trail - Dry Creek Twin Bridges

Noble's Emigrant Trail - Dry Creek Twin Bridges. A zoomed in view from Dry Creek Bridge. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on April 15, 2023.

The historic Noble's Emigrant Trail, a trail which was blazed and routed by William H. Nobles opened in 1852 as a safer route and an easier alternative from the Lassen Trail led travelers, wagons, pack trains and freight trains using this route into Shasta County, California. At the historic site of Dry Creek in eastern Shasta County, and just to the west of the historic Dersch Homestead site are twin bridges belonging to the route which were built in 1924 with the date etched into their concrete. These bridges were made of reinforced concrete slab arches, arched rails and girder beams, which makes them unique and one of a kind in the State of California, designed by C.R. Wiegel.

They were erected by the Severtson Construction Company over the eastern and western channel of Dry Creek at that location. They are a short distance east of the historic site of Fort Reading. To the naked eye they appear to be identical in shape and size, however, their measurements are not exact, bridge one measures at 44 feet long and 20.6 feet wide while bridge two measures at 34 feet long and 20.7 feet wide.

About twenty-seven years ago, Shasta County deemed them to be unsafe for passing motorists. Today, they are fenced off to public access with no trespassing signs around them which is why I'm blogging about this historical site rather than filming a YouTube video about it. Today, historic signs mark each bridge over Dry Creek but remain visible from a distance. A nearby road called Noble's Trail Road retains the name of the historic route as well.