Echo Summit played a major role in early California and Nevada history. Beginning in the early 1850s, fortune-seekers rushed westward over Echo Summit in search of gold in El Dorado County. The discovery of silver and gold in Virginia City in 1859 reversed the travel eastward. After 1869, travel over Echo Summit was reduced to a trickle. Today, Echo Summit is a major route to the south Lake Tahoe basin. There are sites along the summit ridge, like Echo Lake, Berkeley Echo Lake Camp, and Echo Summit Lodge, that have contributed to the history of Echo Summit.