TRUCKEE, Calif. — Just off I-80 in Placer County is a curious yet ordinary looking rock protected by an elaborate metal gazebo. It’s known as the Rocking Stone Tower.
This roadside attraction is nothing more than a small boulder that rocks back and forth on a larger, flat boulder. You may be thinking this rock is not a roadside attraction but rather a scam, or some sort of highway robbery. According to historian Greg Zirbel, that was kind of true in the beginning.
“Right! Let's use what we get for free and make money off it,” said Zirbel.
It's free to visit these days.
The wobbly boulder has entertained or trapped tourists since 1895, but the placement of the four-ton rock happened long before that. Zirbel says glacier melt thousands of years ago moved a giant boulder through what is now Truckee and the rocking stone was miraculously placed on top of another flat rock. Native American tribes used the rocking stone to dry food because of its location.
“It rocks in the wind, scaring the birds away and the animals can't get up here, so it was a great spot to dry your food,” said Zirbel.
The man to first profit off the rocking stone was entrepreneur C.F. McGlashan.
“He had a private entrance to it, so there is admission to get into it to see all this stuff,” said Zirbel.
The rocking stone was right next to the railroad and in the late 1800s there weren’t many attractions, so McGlashan built a gazebo over the rocking stone and started a museum. People came to see it in the summer but in the winter, they came to see his other attractions, which included a series of ice buildings and winter activities like sledding, skiing and snowshoeing.
“He was the mastermind behind winter sports here,” said Zirbel.
Flash forward to the 1969 Olympics and the rocking stone was one of the stopping points for the Olympic torch.
“Because you must come to Truckee to get out to Squaw Valley (now known as Palisades Tahoe) there, so the torch came here and they're like, 'this is a perfect spot to show it off,'” said Zirbel.
If you have time, walk down the hill from the Rocking Stone and check out Truckee Jail Museum. When it finally closed in 1964, it was the longest continually running jail in the state and is now full of antiques and memorabilia.
MORE BIG ROCKS ON THE BACKROADS: The rocks outside "the Box" at Fort Irwin have a story all on their own. How they get there is a mystery.
