It was another beautiful day in southern California, so I decided to take a leisurely motorcycle ride into the San Gabriel Mountains. I eventually found myself on something called the Sierra Highway. It turns out the full extent of the Sierra Highway runs from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe, but I just traveled a short stretch of it in the San Gabriels. (I’ve now added the whole route to my road trip to-do list. Stay tuned.)
Anyway, while the stretch I rode has impressive scenery, there aren’t many points of historical interest. One of the exceptions is this building I came across:
The building is owned by a property management company called Agua Dulce Movie Ranch. They rent out these properties as locations for filming movies. And what movies has this site appeared in? Yes, of course, it was that beloved classic, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
The building also appeared in Terminator 2. Note the similar story line as Pee Wee’s.
I’m sure the building’s been used in other movies as well, but these were all I could quickly identify.
Elsewhere on my ride I noticed an unexpected cluster of buildings through the dense foliage that lined the road:
Closer inspection revealed it to be a collection of ornate buildings from a bygone era, like something from Disneyland’s Main Street USA:
A little research revealed that the reason it looks like a Disney creation is because it is a Disney creation. It’s called Golden Oak Ranch, and Disney has owned it since the 1950s. It’s essentially a back lot that’s been used for many Disney and non-Disney movies over the years.
Incidentally, the name “Golden Oak” is a reference to an ancient tree that is said to predate California’s Gold Rush. It stands in a nearby park which I visited on this same ride. Here’s the tree in question:
The story goes that one Francisco Lopez took a nap under this tree in 1842, and dreamt he was surrounded by gold. After waking, he picked some wild onions (as one typically does after napping) and noticed flecks of gold on the roots. This was the first recorded discovery of gold in California…some six year’s before James Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill, triggering the California Gold Rush.
But I don’t want to leave you with the impression that it’s all movie sets and golden onions along the Sierra Highway. There’s also some very prosaic old buildings left over from a different era. Such as this gas station:
And after filling up, I headed back into the Los Angeles basin, where I would spend the rest of the afternoon dreaming of gold and tequila.
Chasing Phantoms 
Steve:
And after dreaming of gold and tequila, did you hunt for wild onions?
I sort of remember hearing about a gold discovery earlier than Coloma, so thanks for telling the story. But why trace the Sierra Highway when you’ve already toured most of the route as US 395.
Wouldn’t it be infinitely more fun to take the Sierra Highway to its junction with the nearly-forgotten diagonal route of US 6 which starts in Bishop? From there you’d travel nearly 3,200 miles through exactly the kind of small towns and countryside that you enjoy, until you came to the eastern end on Cape Cod? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_6#Route_description The Grand Army of the Republic Highway!
Now THAT would be a great adventure. And, who knows, there might even be wild onions along the way!
Peace and all good. – Peter
>
LikeLike
Yes–Route 6 is next on the list!
LikeLike