Sights: Inspiration Point

The picturesque splendor of San Lorenzo Gorge was not lost on even the earliest Western settlers to pass through its depths. Almost as soon as the Eben Bennett Toll Road was completed in 1867, people began to photograph and seek out beautiful views of the southernmost portion of the San Lorenzo Valley. At a tight curve on the toll road, approximately 2.5 miles south of downtown Felton, the road widened very briefly, allowing for a pull-out and rest stop on the way to Santa Cruz. This place proved to have several unique and photogenic characteristics.

Colorized postcard of Coon Gulch and San Lorenzo Gorge
from Inspiration Point, c. 1920s. [Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History]

From the place that became known as Inspiration Point, a steep ledge fell off to the river far below. This meant that there were very few trees blocking the view of the gorge. Conveniently, the river made several sharp curves, as well, making the gorge somewhat wider here and increasing the range of visibility to the south. The redwood-speckled hills gave a year-round green shade to the surrounding mountains, heightening their unique qualities. Deep in the gorge, one could sometimes hear the rushing waters of the San Lorenzo River as it passed over some of its few rapids sections. And midway between, from 1875, the railroad tracks between Felton and Santa Cruz ran through a dangerous section known as Coon Gulch, where the scenic views below were countered with the ever-present threat of landslides from above.

A lumber train crossing over the two bridges along Coon Gulch, c. 1877. Photograph by F. A. Cook. [PacificNG.org]

Perhaps one of the best known features of this overlook is the concrete arch bridge built by the Southern Pacific Railroad built in March 1905. The original trackage along Coon Gulch was built by the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad in 1875 and required two short bridges to cross the steep gullies that ran down the hillside.

Closeup of a Santa Cruz & Felton locomotive parked on the Coon Gulch composite bridge, 1878. Note the damage to the right side of the bridge from falling debris. Photograph by F. A. Cook. [UC Santa Cruz Special Collections]

While the southernmost bridge was a simple trestle, the northern bridge required a rather unique construction of a truss bridge low in the gulch with a trestle erected over it. To encourage debris off the bridge, the side of the bridge facing the river was sloped using thick redwood planks, although this technique was only moderately successful.

An early postcard showing Coon Gulch from Inspiration Point, c. 1880s. [Bancroft Library]

As the line was being prepared for standard-gauging at the turn of the century, the decision was made to attempt to resolve the issues plaguing the Coon Gulch trackage. The smaller bridge was completely removed and replaced with a concrete fill. The larger, deeper bridge, however, was replaced with the concrete arch that still exists today.

A telephoto view of Coon Gulch, showing the new concrete arch bridge
and the filled concrete plug, c. 1905. [Ken Lorenzen]

This new structure accomplished two goals: it reduced the damage that could be caused by falling debris, and it reduced the curve through this section of track, since the original bridge was not able to substantially bend, forcing the track entering and exiting it to curve more sharply.

A Southern Pacific freight train heading to Felton over the concrete arch, c. 1940s. [Unknown provenance]

From 1905 to the present, the view from Inspiration Point became one of the most famous photo stops in Santa Cruz County. In the early years of the automobile, especially the 1920s, colorized postcards of the location began to circulate en masse, further emphasizing the location. And since the second-growth redwood forest around the area had not yet grown to full maturity as it has now, most of the scenes show both the river and the railroad tracks. Indeed, often postcard creators added a train to photographs to add to their artistic merits. As with many postcards of the time, many of these are in fact from the same image, but with small changes or artistic differences.

These are part of the earliest-known postcard series, featuring a Model T Ford with the river out of frame:

Postcard with a red Model T, c. 1920s. [Unknown provenance]

Postcard with a black Model T, c. 1920s [Unknown provenance]

These are part of the second series of postcards, where a pedestrian path has been added between the road and the cliffside and the river is now visible:

Postcard by F. R. Fulmer, c. 1930s. [CardCow]

Beginning in the 1930s, postcards of the area became somewhat rarer and the novelty of colorizing photos or, for that matter, editing them had faded. Artists during the Great Depression were more interested in photo-realism and, as such, took more mundane, but equally picturesque, photos to sell as postcards:

A monochrome postcard from the late 1930s, showing no train or car, just scenery. [Ken Lorenzen]

Also, the emphasis moved away from Inspiration Point itself and more toward the view from the point, specifically the railroad tracks and the concrete arch. This may have been part of an artistic movement toward romanticizing industrial works that was popular at the time:

Postcard showing Coon Gulch, 1930s. [Santa Cruz MAH]

Postcard showing a train crossing the concrete arch on its way to Santa Cruz,
taken from Inspiration Point, c. 1930s. [Santa Cruz MAH]

Colorized postcard of the concrete arch and San Lorenzo Gorge, c. 1930s.
Compare the colors to the postcard at the top of the page. [Ken Lorenzen]

Sepia-toned postcard of the above colorized postcard, c. 1930s.
[Mount Hermon]

And people took their own photographs, of course. The following are just a few of thousands that likely exist in private collections and museum archives across the world:

Photo of a train crossing over the concrete arch heading toward Felton,
taken from Inspiration Point, c. 1940s. [Santa Cruz MAH]

An excursion train crossing the cement arch in Coon Gulch, June 11, 1939.
Photograph by Wilbur C. Whittaker. [Jim Vail]

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
37.0241˚N, 122.059˚W

Today, Inspiration Point sits alongside State Route 9 within the boundaries of Henry Cowell Redwood State Park. It is now an official location within the park, aptly, albeit uncreatively, named Vista Point. It can be found on the east side of the road exactly two miles south of the Henry Cowell entrance log outside Felton. There is ample parking, although be aware of drivers coming from the south, as there is a blind curve and locals often take it faster than is advised. While it is not as scenic as it once was—primarily because the redwood trees have since grown to such a height that they block the once-broad view—it is still a sight to behold, especially for people unfamiliar with the scenic beauty of the San Lorenzo Valley.

Citations & Credits:

• Hamman, Rick. California Central Coast Railways. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2007.
• MacGregor, Bruce. The Birth of California Narrow-Gauge. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003.
• Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA, 2015.

Sights: Cats Canyon

There were many scenic and picturesque locales along the South Pacific Coast Railroad's route to Santa Cruz, and one of the most heavily photographed was Cats Canyon. Cats Canyon is a roughly 1.5-mile gorge that runs from just south of Los Gatos—the present location of "The Cats" figurine—to the modern-day James J. Lenihan Dam, where once sat the confluence of Limekiln Creek and Trout Creek into Los Gatos Creek. It is named after the wildcats—bobcats and cougars—that once roamed the area.

Vibrantly-colorized postcard of Cats Canyon with the railroad and track walkers, c. 1900. [Los Gatos Public Library]

A path through Cats Canyon has always been available to those who seek it. The native Ohlone people maintained at least one seasonal trail through the gorge for thousands of years before a Westerner laid eyes on the canyon. During the Spanish and Mexican colonial periods, a crude trail down Los Gatos Creek, probably following the old Ohlone route, was used infrequently by bureaucrats, friars, soldiers, and other travelers. Over the years, portions of this route fell into American hands. One of the earliest such roads was Zachary "Buffalo" Jones's so-called Farnham's Toll Road, which ran through the lumberman's property through the upper Los Gatos Creek basin. This was in all likelihood the old Ohlone trail with minor improvements. In 1857, Santa Cruz Gap Turnpike Company purchased the line and widened it so it could properly hook up with Charles "Mountain Charlie" McKiernan's toll road that led from the Summit to Santa Cruz via Scotts Valley. The organisation charged passersby tolls for twenty years until their contract expired in 1877. Over the years, the road was progressively widened to support increased traffic to Lexington and the various lumber enterprises situated in the upper Los Gatos Creek basin. In 1871, the San José Water Company began constructing a wooden box flume above the terraces of Cats Canyon to bring water to San José from Jones's dam south of Forest House (Alma). The original flume was three miles long and remained in place until the 1930s, when it was replaced with an aqueduct.

Three people fishing under a footbridge near Trout Gulch, the southern end of Cats Canyon. [Museums of Los Gatos]

A narrow-gauge train passing through Cats Canyon, with the old stage road visible at top-left. [Los Gatos Public Library]

When the South Pacific Coast Railroad first began building south of Los Gatos, it attempted to follow an eastern approach into Cats Canyon, but deposits of blue clay destabilised the grade forcing the railroad to move to the west side of Los Gatos Creek. Throughout 1877, railroad crews graded through the canyon, building two tunnels (one of which collapsed shortly afterwards) in the process. Immediately, Cats Canyon became one of the scenic beauties of the rail line and photographs began appearing in South Pacific Coast marketing.

The straight, even tracks running left toward Lexington, while the road to Santa Cruz above meanders around the curves.

Even after through traffic to Santa Cruz opened up in May 1880, Cats Canyon remained a heavily photographed venue. Indeed, all tourist trains that ran along the South Pacific Coast and, later, Southern Pacific line to Santa Cruz went through the gorge and many stopped within the Los Gatos Creek basin for picnics and frivolities. Although the canyon itself never had any picnic stops or even any sidings, due to its narrow width, the simple passage through the gorge was a sight to behold.

Dual-gauge railroad tracks passing through Cats Canyon, 1906. Note the massive landslide to the right, caused by the San Francisco Earthquake. [J.B. Macelwane Collection, Saint Louis University]

Southern Pacific narrow-gauged locomotives began their ascent into Cats Canyon just south of Los Gatos, below the Santa Cruz Highway. In the early days, vineyards littered the hills above the canyon. [Los Gatos Public Library]

When the Glenwood Highway was completed in 1921, automotive travellers would often stop at two turnouts above the railroad grade and snap photographs of the gorge, complete with the Southern Pacific tracks in the foreground. Some eagle-eyed photographers even managed to include the first Los Gatos Creek trestle in their photographs.

A beautiful perspective shot of Cats Canyon around 1921. Glenwood Highway is at right while the tracks are at left with the flume running overhead. The site of the Lenihan Dam would be near the top-left of this photograph. [Farwell Family]

Looking north down Cats Canyon toward Los Gatos, August 1924. Note the flume on the right, the railroad in the middle, and Glenwood Highway at left. [Clarence Hamsher]

Interest in the canyon only declined in the 1930s when passenger service across all Southern Pacific lines was declining. As one of the many projects begun during the Great Depression, the upgrading of the Glenwood Highway to California State Route 17 in 1940 marked the end of Cats Canyon's days as a photo stop. Newer cars could travel at faster speeds and fewer stopped at the two pullouts along the top of the gorge.

Cats Canyon as viewed from near the base of the Lenihan Dam, looking north. [Ralph Leidy]

The completion of Lexington Reservoir in 1952 ended any lingering romantic thoughts of the canyon. Today, many hikers and bicyclists run along the former railroad grade beneath Highway 17, unaware of the railroad history they are interacting with. However, if the Los Gatos Creek Trail county park has done anything, it has reminded people of the captivating qualities that Cats Canyon has to offer.

Geo-Coordinates & Access Rights:
Northern End: approx. 37.215˚N, 121.988˚W
Southern End: approx. 37.201˚N, 121.991˚W

There are still two pullouts accessible to those travelling north on State Route 17. However, for those truly desiring to enjoy Cats Canyon, people should walk the Los Gatos Creek trail through the area. Explorers can either begin from the trailhead on Alma Bridge Road, accessible on the east side of Lexington Reservoir, or from the Forbes Flour Mill Museum, accessible from behind The Pastaria & Market on East Main Street in Los Gatos. For those wishing to walk the right-of-way, remain on the west side of Los Gatos Creek for the duration (the other side of the creek is the old box flume trail). Everything except the final half-mile is the old Southern Pacific Railroad grade. Look for old telephone poles visible along the route, as well as a few culverts and semaphore foundations in the bushes. If you are really up for an adventure, you can also find the old piers to the trestle by going straight rather than up when the trail begins climbing to highway level.

Citations & Credits:

• Beal, Richard A. Highway 17: The Road to Santa Cruz. Second edition. Aptos, CA: The Pacific Group, 1991.
• Conaway, Peggy. "Los Gatos History Photo: The Old Wooden Flume." San Jose Mercury News, 25 October 2010.
• Hamman, Rick. California Central Coast Railways. Second edition. Santa Cruz, CA: Otter B Books, 2002.
• Whaley, Derek R. Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Santa Cruz, CA: 2015.