A Californian icon and a feat of engineering, this is Sacramento’s most photographed bridge. Its golden frame is especially striking when lit up at night.
When the California sun casts its first light over Sacramento’s streets, the golden glow of the Tower Bridge matches that of the cupola on the State Capitol nearby. As the day progresses, thousands of people use the bridge to cross between Downtown and West Sacramento. Drive or walk across one of the country’s official historic treasures.
For a closer look, stroll across Tower Bridge for views over the Sacramento River and watch the boats go by. Note that the center part can lift vertically when tall ships traverse this section of the Sacramento River, allowing as much as 100 feet (30meters) of clearance underneath. Counterweights are attached by cables to bear the weight of the heavy middle section when it rises. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to witness a lift during your visit.
Tower Bridge is seen by many locals as the gateway to California’s historic past, as it guides people to the heart of Old Sacramento’s Victorian-era cathedral and State Capitol. Note the golden sheen of the bridge’s paint symbolizing the California Gold Rush that made this capital’s successful development possible.
Learn about the bridge’s structural history. Inaugurated with great pride in the mid 1930s, the Tower Bridge initially combined a central railway with a roadway and pedestrian sidewalks. This bridge replaced a much smaller railway bridge to accommodate the capital’s growing population, but history tells us that it wasn’t enough. The railroad tracks were removed in 1963 to allow even greater car traffic. A new railway bridge was built to divert the trains.
Head back to the riverbanks near the bridge at dusk, when the tower outlines become more pronounced and floodlights come on. The bridge suddenly looks like a golden beacon against the darkening skies. After a River Cats baseball game at Raley Field, you may even see fireworks behind the bridge at night.
Sacramento’s Tower Bridge is a public crossing and can be visited any time, day and night. Use the parking garage near the bridge along Capitol Mall on the downtown side of the river.
