[1] Beckwourth Pass is located at the north eastern edge of Sierra Valley at Chilcoot-Vinton, California near the border between Plumas County and Lassen County, 20 miles (32 km) east of Portola, California and 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Reno, Nevada.

The trail ran from Truckee Meadows (what is now known as Sparks, Nevada) through the pass into California and on to Marysville.

[3] Among the settlers was ten-year-old Ina Coolbrith Smith, who was later to become California's first Poet Laureate.

In 1906, the Chilcoot Tunnel, with a length of 6,002 feet (1,829 m), was constructed beneath Beckwourth Pass by the Western Pacific Railroad as part of its Feather River Route.

[8] On August 8, 1939, Beckwourth Pass was designated as California Historical Landmark Number 336.