Page 151 - 2020 Travel Guide to California

SPECIAL
»
EVENTS 2020
Nearly three dozen El Dorado County wineries participate in PASSPORT 2020 - THE
GREAT OUT THERE, a blend of wine tasting, live music, food and literary-themed events.
April 17-19 passporteldorado.com
Wager on a jumping frog as Mark Twain’s most beloved story is commemorated each year
at the CALAVERAS COUNTY FAIR & JUMPING FROG JUBILEE in Angels Camp.
May 14-17 frogtown.org
Sutter Creek celebrates the grape harvest with the AMADOR VINTNERS HARVEST
WINE FESTIVAL, a.k.a. The Big Crush. See the harvest in action and enjoy wine samples
and food pairings at many of the 40+ Amador Vintners’ wineries. Oct. 3-4 suttercreek.org
Angels Camp returns to the days of Samuel Clemons for the MARK TWAIN WILD WEST
FEST, with period costumes, blacksmithing and saloon dancing girls. Oct. 17
marktwainwildwestfest.com
TOWER BRIDGE in Sacramento, opposite; panning for gold, below; music in the western gold mining town of Columbia, bottom right.
old timers making
»
MUST
SEE,
DO
» Covered Bridge The longest covered bridge
west of the Mississippi stands at Knight’s Ferry, an
old-time Mother Lode town so picturesque that
scenes for Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie
were filmed there.
› knightsferry.com
» Have a Sarsaparilla Step back to the 1800s
at Columbia State Historic Park, with its wood-
planked sidewalks, historically costumed
shopkeepers and strict “horse-drawn vehicles only”
policy.
› visitcolumbiacalifornia.com
» Appellation Trail Leave the tippling crowds
behind as you taste rich, jammy Zinfandels and
other wines at dozens of wineries in California’s
up-and-coming wine region—Amador, El Dorado
and Calaveras counties.
› discovercaliforniawines.com
» Apple Watch Allow the aroma of freshly
baked apple pies, fritters, turnovers and strudel to
lure you off Highway 50 east of Placerville to a
place called Apple Hill. More than 50 growers
participate in a celebration of the apple harvest—
and of autumn itself—with cider, hayrides,
pumpkin patches, hay mazes and other family fun.
It runs from Labor Day to Christmas.
› applehill.com
» California Underground Rappel into the
darkness and explore a chamber large enough to
hold the Statue of Liberty in Moaning Cavern near
the town of Vallecito.
› moaningcaverns.com
2020 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 149