The Last Chance Grade of US Route 101 refers to a segment of the highway in Del Norte County, California from Crescent City southward through Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. The Last Chance Grade traditionally has been a slide prone choke point through much of the history of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway. The history of the Last Chance Grade Prior to a highway being constructed over the Last Chance Slide overland transportation between Crescent City southward to Klamath River was virtually non-existent. Travelers and freight would arrive in Crescent City where it they would be loaded onto rowboats. The rowboats would follow the coastline southward and turn inland via the Klamath River to the village of Requa. Requa and the Klamath River served as the gateway to reach Klamath County (annexed into Humboldt County by 1874). This corridor between Crescent City and the Klamath River can be seen on the 1873 Bancroft's Road Map of California . The 1884 California O
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