In the early years of the 20th century, the railroad was built from San Francisco across Devil’s Slide to Half Moon Bay, and was to extend on to Santa Cruz. ‘Tunitas Glen’ was as far as the rails ever went. From here, riders transferred to a Stanley Steamer that drove 26 miles over the old stagecoach roads through San Gregorio and Pescadero, reaching another portion of the rails at the old town of Swanton, north of Davenport.
A wooden trestle was constructed across Tunitas Creek at this location, in part to persuade investors that the railroad was still growing, but rails were never laid on it. The Ocean Shore Railroad went bankrupt and closed in 1920. The trestle stood until 1940, when it burned. The concrete pylons that supported the trestle can still be seen in the canyon below; the south abutment has been mostly destroyed by various Caltrans projects.
The southern side of Tunitas Creek is also the location of a virtual California historical landmark, commemorating the site of an Indian village that was encountered by the Gaspar de Portolá expedition in October of 1769 (approx 37 21.397 N 122 23.833 W WGS84). This was a group of the Rumaytash people of the Ohlone tribe, perhaps part of the Oljón tribelet that occupied the San Gregorio basin to the south. All of that people were gathered into the Spanish mission system in the following years, and none of the family lines of this area are known to have survived the diseases and cultural disruption that followed. For the Rumaytash Ohlone, this was also the end of the line.
(Update 4/30/06: The cache container is a camo'ed small jar.) Parking is best at 37 21.521N 122 23.871 W; avoid stopping along the narrow shoulder of busy Highway 1. You do not need to pass any 'Private Property' signs to access the cache. Benchmark fans can easily find HT1477 on the nearby highway bridge. HT1478 is located at its southern end, but we strongly discourage walking across the narrow span, busy with high speed traffic - use your wheels.