| State: | CA |
| Type: | SR |
| Route: | 153 |
| Section: | 453 |
| Maint: | Caltrans |
| Map Notes: | SR 153 highlighted in red |
| Length Mi: | 0.550 |
| Length Round: | 3 |
| Terminus A: | in Coloma |
| Terminus B: | James Marshall Monument in Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park[1] |
| Counties: | El Dorado |
| Previous Type: | SR |
| Previous Route: | 152 |
| Next Type: | SR |
| Next Route: | 154 |
State Route 153 (SR 153) is a very short state highway in the U.S. state of California in El Dorado County. It extends only 0.5miles from the junction of Cold Springs Road and SR 49, in the town of Coloma in the heart of California's Gold Country, to the monument marking the grave of James Marshall, whose finding of gold along the American River, January 24, 1848 sparked the California Gold Rush. The exact routing is from SR 49 south on Cold Springs Road then west on Monument Road in Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park to the monument.[2]
Although the California Department of Transportation has posted a sign indicating that SR 153 is "California's shortest state highway",[3] it is not: SR 77, SR 265, SR 283, and SR 275 are all shorter. However, these highways are merely short connectors between other highways.
The route connects SR 49 in Coloma with the monument to James Marshall in Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park,[4] via south on Cold Springs Road then west on Monument Road. SR 153 is neither signed at the SR 49/Cold Springs Road intersection nor at the Cold Springs/Monument Road junction. The only SR 153 marker is on Monument Road with another sign below it claiming that the route is "California's shortest state highway".[5]
The Monument Road portion of the highway is quite narrow, and appears to end at a park employee residence. There is an easily overlooked sign which indicates that the road continues across, as a very narrow one way road, in front of the yard of the residence. There is a parking lot on the right just before the park employee residence, but there is also a smaller parking area closer to the monument on the loop road that circles it. The highway officially terminates at the monument, but since the last short segment is one way, one cannot legally retrace one's route if they drive all the way to the monument. The one lane, one way road continues on past its junction with the loop road, down the hill and passes Marshall's cabin, ending at the junction of Church and High streets. One can then use Church Street to get back to SR 49 and SR 153. According to the park, the narrow one way portion of the road is unsuitable for buses and large vehicles.[6]
SR 153 is not part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.