El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles (English:the Old Road to Los Angeles), also known asEl Camino Viejo and theOld Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonialLas Californias (1769–1822) and MexicanAlta California (1822–1848), present dayCalifornia. It became a well established inland route, and an alternative to the coastalEl Camino Real trail used since the 1770s in the period.
It ran fromSan Pedro Bay and thePueblo de Los Ángeles, over theTransverse Ranges throughTejon Pass and down through theSan Emigdio Mountains to theSan Joaquin Valley, where it followed a route along the eastern slopes of theCoast Ranges betweenaguaje (watering places) andarroyos. It passed west out of the valley, over theDiablo Range at Corral Hollow Pass into theLivermore Valley, to end at theOakland Estuary on the easternSan Francisco Bay.[1][2][3]
The route of El Camino Viejo was well established by the 1820s, and the route was in use by Spanish colonial "carretas" (ox carts) as early as 1780,[4] as a more direct route thanEl Camino Real to the recently establishedMission Santa Clara de Asís andMission San Francisco de Asís. At that time the Bay Area section ran from the mouth ofArroyo Las Positas southwest across the mouth of theArroyo Mocho andArroyo Valle toArroyo de la Laguna (later the lands ofRancho Valle de San Jose) and following it south down to its confluence withArroyo de la Alameda (later location ofSunol). It then crossed the hills to the south viaMission Pass to the coastal plain and on until it reached Mission Santa Clara and the El Camino Real. The Los Angeles Area section left the El Camino Real in theSan Fernando Valley,
Later, after the 1797 foundation of theMission San José, the road was turned northward from there, crossingArroyo de San Leandro andArroyo de San Lorenzo to the anchorage in what is now theOakland Estuary. There cargos could be ferried across to the Mission andPresidio of San Francisco or to other places on the bay more quickly and in more quantity than carriage by road.[5]
This route along the unsettled frontier of Spanish colonialLas Californias—Alta California (1769–1822) came to be favored by those who wished to avoid the eyes of the Spanish authorities that were along the more settled coastal route of El Camino Real.[6] Settlements likeLas Juntas andRancho Centinela (est. 1810), and laterPoso de Chane and others began to grow up along the route of El Camino Viejo. LaterCaliforniovaqueros made "El Camino Viejo" a well-known trail that connected Rancho San Antonio with thePueblo de Los Ángeles. The vaqueros ran cattle and in the 1840s began establishing inlandMexican land grant ranchos along the route. Californiomesteñeros (wild horse catchers) also moved into the San Joaquin Valley to catch themesteños (mustangs) that now roamed in the thousands, and held them in temporary corrals before herding them to the Bay Area, toSouthern California, or toSonora and other territories of northernMexico for sale.
With theCalifornia Gold Rush a shortcut developed at the northern end of El Camino Viejo, as part of the Oakland to Stockton Road used by stagecoaches and teamsters. It ran fromOakland, east through theCastro Valley andRancho San Ramon, to the San Joaquin Valley andStockton.
Arroyo de Panoche Grande (northern junction of El Camino Viejo with its Eastern Route)
El Camino Viejo ran along the eastern edge of the Coast Range hills in the San Joaquin Valley northward to the mouth of Corral Hollow. From this point it ran generally east-west through the hills and then down into the Livermore Valley and on to Mission San Jose. From there it turned northward, terminating at what is now the Oakland area.