"Bridge To Nowhere" And The Horshoe Mine.

In 1929, Los Angeles comissioned a highway up through the San Gabriel River gorge that was to connect to the ski resorts at Wrightwood. Completed in 1936, this monumental task was to be short lived. On March 1st of 1938, FOURTEEN inches of rain fell, and by daybreak of the second, the "Bridge To Nowhere" was all that was left of the roadway. The project was promptly abandoned.

This year, the bridge will celebrate it's 71st birthday. It is still used to this day for Bungee Jumpers and as an all day ten mile hike destination.

On this creek-bottom hike, you can often see big horn sheep, tarantulas, and many species of amphibian. The bridge and all surrounding land is claimed by the relativs of the Saunders family, who first laid claim to this area for gold prospecting in 1909.

Back in 1888, land surveying was not as precise as it is today. The government thought it was building on public domain, but the Saunders estate has proven the land to be on their gold claim from 1909. The "Horshoe Mine" was named after the bend in the river where it is located, and still bears relics of the gold rush here. Sluices and old stone house footings can be found, as well as implements inside the mine itsself.

The last known mention of it was in a local L.A. hiking publication called "Trails Magazine" which only ran from 1934 to 1939. The mine is downstream of the bridge, but difficult to find due to it's location away from the hiking trail, and down a 600' ledge. The wife of the Saunders offspring, a VERY old woman who left the mountain many years ago, now lives in Texas and collects money from the Bungee Jumping company that runs tours here to the bridge.