Cape Horn Promontory Can Be Seen Again at the Site of the Commemorative Plaque on Highway 174

Several decades of tree growth were recently cut down, revealing the spectacular view of the Cape Horn Promontory from the site of a commemorative plaque on highway 174 in Colfax, California.

The Cape Horn Promontory can be seen from the stone bench that is located in the parking lot to the left of the Red Frog Bar & Grill, at 1001 State Highway 174, Colfax, California.

The plaque is “dedicated to the memory of thousands of Chinese who worked for Charles Crocker on the Central Pacific Railroad. From September 1865 to May 1866 they hand-cut a ledge for railroad tracks across the face of Cape Horn Promontory over 1300 feet above the canyon floor. They are honored for their work ethic and timely completion of the transcontinental rails ending in Promontory, Utah, May 1869.”

The Red Frog is a popular bar & grill that has an outdoor deck which provides its own spectacular view of the Cape Horn Promontory. Randy Brock, the owner of the Red Frog, graciously allowed the trees that were on his property to be cut so that visitors who stop to read the plaque can clearly see the Promontory.

The Cape Horn plaque was first installed by the Colfax Area Historical Society in 1999. In 2019, a revised plaque was installed, which corrected several spelling mistakes and a historical error about the construction of the transcontinental railroad around the Cape Horn Promontory.

The other side of the bench has a historical plaque commemorating the Blue Star Memorial By-Way. That plaque was installed by the Colfax Garden Club in 1998. The two plaques are mounted on either side of a wide stone bench that invites you to contemplate the view.