Foresthill, CA

Foresthill is a mountain town on the Foresthill Divide, the long ridge that separates two forks of the American River, with Auburn the larger town far below to the west in Placer County. Most people arrive on Foresthill Road, which crosses the Foresthill Bridge, a steel span roughly 730 feet above the canyon floor. That crossing is the signature view on the drive up from the valley. The town began as a gold rush camp and still reads as a mountain community more than a suburb. The center is small, with a market, a library, a museum and a couple of places to eat, and the rest is spread across wooded parcels on both sides of the main road. Public land is the draw. Auburn State Recreation Area wraps the canyons below town, with trails down to the water, including the one to Lake Clementine and the path out to Grouse Falls. The Western States Trail crosses this country, and each June the 100-mile footrace comes through and fills the area with runners and their crews. Food is a short list. The bakery on Main Street, Foresthill Farms & Bakery, is the one with Friday and Saturday dinner service, and anyone after a wider choice of restaurants heads down the hill to Auburn. The same goes for appointments, clothing and big hardware runs. Homes here are cabins, ranch houses and newer builds on large lots, and the setting matters more than the style. Many properties back onto forest, and the sound of the place is wind in the pines. Isolation is the cost. Foresthill Road is the lifeline, and a closure or a winter storm can turn an ordinary errand into a long one. The reward is a ridge with canyon on both sides and a town that still feels like a place apart from everything below it.