The capitol building in Sacramento, California, is one of four state capitols on Route 50. (The other three: Annapolis, Maryland; Jefferson City, Missouri; Carson City, Nevada. Not to mention Washington, D.C.)
Sacramento is named for the Sacramento River, which borders it on the west. The river, in turn, was named “Santisimo Sacramento” (most holy sacrament) by a Spanish cavalry officer.
To get to Sacramento, Route 50 comes down from Echo Summit in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which is west of Lake Tahoe at an elevation of 7,382 feet.
Because Sacramento rests at thirteen feet above sea level, the climb to Echo Summit is the longest on Route 50. This is true even though the Rocky Mountains are higher than the Sierras, and Monarch Pass, where Route 50 crosses the continental divide, is at an altitude of 11,312 feet. However, the climb to reach that point begins at Canõn City, Colorado, elevation 5,331 feet. That makes it a climb of ‘only’ 5,981 feet, or about 1,400 feet less than the climb from Sacramento to Echo Pass.