Siskiyou Trail

The Siskiyou Trail stretched from California's Central Valley to the Columbia River in Washington State; modern-day Interstate 5 follows this pioneer path.

The earliest European or European-American visitors along the Siskiyou Trail were likely hunters and trappers connected with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) who, in the 1820s, began to travel the rivers of Southern Oregon and Northern California in search of fur and pelts.

McLeod's exploring and trapping expeditions essentially established the Siskiyou Trail, linking Fort Vancouver with the Sacramento Valley.

In 1834, Ewing Young brought a herd of horses and mules over the Siskiyou Trail from missions in California for sale at British and American settlements in Oregon.

The trail crested at the Siskiyou Summit (elevation 4,310 ft (1,310 m)) just north of the Oregon-California border, and went past or near landmarks such as Mount Shasta, Upper Soda Springs, Castle Crags and Sutter Buttes.

[citation needed] About 4 miles (7 km) north of the California border, and just south of Ashland, Oregon, the highway crosses Siskiyou Summit, the highest point on I-5 (elevation 4,310 ft (1,310 m)).