Last updated: September 10, 2026
Place
Strawberry Station
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Unincorporated Strawberry is about 12.5 driving miles on US-50 from Meyers. California Historical Marker 707 on northwest side of US-50 at 38.795375 -120.148312 about 400 ft southwest of Strawberry General Store. The station was in the meadow on the opposite side of the highway. Parking at US Forest Service trailhead for Swan-Henry Toll Rd is 38°47'57.6"N 120°08'26.8"W
Significance:
Strawberry Station was a remount station for the Pony Express in 1860-1861. The site, known as Strawberry Valley House, was also a popular hostelry and stagecoach stop.
Designation:
Historic site on the Pony Express National Historic Trail.
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
6 listed
Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Showers, Tent Campsites, Toilet - Vault/Composting, Trailhead/Hiker Register
US-50 from Meyers, California, closely follows the original Pony Express Trail along the South Fork American River to the community of Strawberry. There, a man named Berry managed a popular hostelry and Pony Express remount station from 1860-1861. Some claimed he fed lodgers’ horses straw while charging for hay, earning Mr. Berry the nickname “Strawberry.” (Hay is dried grass or alfalfa, a nutritious feed for grazing animals. Straw, the dried, yellow stalks left over after harvesting grains such as wheat or oats, has little nutritional value but is cheaper.) But the community’s name may also have come from wild strawberries that grew there; historical records don’t provide a definitive answer.
California Historical Monument 707 stands beside US-50 about 400 yards southwest of the Strawberry General Store. The original Pony Express building, located in a meadow opposite the monument, reportedly burned down in 1867.
A short drive northeast of the general store brings visitors to a preserved segment of the historic Swan-Henry Toll Road, used by the Pony Express, stagecoaches, and other traffic approaching from Meyers Grade. Today this once-busy road is a rocky footpath within Eldorado National Forest, featuring historic sites and interpretive wayside exhibits. Visitors can enjoy a scenic, 3-mile out-and-back hike on the preserved road, beginning at nearby Lover’s Leap Campground.
To reach the trailhead, turn left (east) at Strawberry onto Strawberry Lane. (If you pass Strawberry Lodge on the left, you’ve gone too far.) As the road begins to curve right, bear left again onto Strawberry Court/National Forest Road 11N20a and follow it to Lovers Leap Campground parking. The trailhead is on the right side of the camping loop. Parking requires a national forest recreation fee. National Park and Federal Recreation passes are not valid for day use.
Site Information
Location (Unincorporated Strawberry is about 12.5 driving miles on US-50 from Meyers.
California Historical Marker 707 on northwest side of US-50 at 38.795375 -120.148312 about 400 ft southwest of Strawberry General Store.
The station was in the meadow on the opposite side of the highway. Parking at US Forest Service trailhead for Swan-Henry Toll Rd is 38°47'57.6"N 120°08'26.8"W)