Site information:

On shoulder of SW corner of Colorado River Bridge, North K St, Needles

34.850967,-114.609699

Plaque information:

State plaque

Plaque text:

National Old Trails

This bridge marks the site where the National Old Trails Highway, later Highway 66, crossed the Colorado River. It links the Mojave Indian lands visited by Father Garces in 1776. Near this location the American explorer, Jedediah Smith and his band of Rocky Mountain men, crossed the river in 1826 and opened the pioneer trail into southern California.

Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, City of Needles, County of San Bernardino, and Arizona County of Mohave, June 17, 1978.

OHP description:

An old Indian trail, still visible in some places, ran roughly parallel to the Colorado River on the California side. This is the route followed by Garcés and his Mojave guides in 1776 and by Jedediah Smith in 1826.

Registered 11/20/1962