SR 88 separates from SR 49 and leaves Jackson following Jackson Creek to climb to the small town of Pine Grove. Along this ascent the road passes to the south of the Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians and SR 88 is used as an access road for both the tribal nation and the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort operated by the tribe. To scale the westnern slope of the Sierra Nevada, East of Pine Grove Highway 88 follows a ridge that separates the watershed of the North Fork Mokelumne River to the south of the highway, with a number of other watersheds to the north. At lower elevations the watershed to the north of this ridge is initially Sutter Creek, later the South Fork Cosumnes River, and later still that of the Middle Fork Cosmunes River. At the highest elevations the watershed to the north of the road and the ridge is the Silver Fork American River. Several overlooks are located at spots where SR 88 follows this ridge which provide views into the canyons of each of these rivers. For several miles this ridge, and by extension SR 88, form the boundary between Amador and El Dorado County. In the lower parts of this ridge are the settlements of Pioneer and Buckhorn. Two small settlements are located in the higher elevations of this ridge, Cooks Station, and Ham's Station. Both of these are today known as locations where Caltrans implements traveling restrictions during winter storms, such as requiring tire chains, restricting certain vehicles or complete closures. Where this ridge crosses the divide between the Cosumnes and American Rivers is where the road joins the Mormon Emigrant Trail, which follows a different ridge up the mountains from the modern U.S. Route 50 corridor near Sly Park. This trail is so named for the Mormons in California during the gold rush, who created this path to rejoin the Mormon migration to Utah. Just past Silver Lake, Route 88 reaches a geographic feature known as the Carson Spur. This is where this ridge effectively ends, and the road follows a dynamited path down to the Kirkwood Mountain Resort and the small town of Kirkwood, where the road crosses into Alpine County. The Carson Spur section is prone to frequent avalanches in the winter and is periodically closed for avalanche control measures. In the final push up to Carson Pass the road passes by