Page 109 - 2024/2025 Travel Guide to CALIFORNIA

SPECIAL EVENTS 2024
PASSPORT TO THE GREAT OUT THERE Around 17 El Dorado County wineries participate, with a blend of wine tasting, live music, food and literary-themed events. April 20-21, El Dorado County ElDoradoWines.org/Passport
CALAVERAS COUNTY FAIR & JUMPING FROG JUBILEE Wager on a jumping frog as Mark Twain’s most beloved story is commemorated each year. May 16-19, Angels Camp frogtown.org
BIG CRUSH HARVEST WINE FESTIVAL Sutter Creek celebrates the grape harvest. See the harvest in action and enjoy wine samples and food pairings at many of the 45+ Amador Vintners’ wineries. Oct. 5-6, amadorbigcrush.com
MARK TWAIN WILD WEST FEST Angels Camp returns to the days of Samuel Clemons with period costumes, blacksmithing and saloon dancing girls. Oct. 12 facebook.com/marktwainwildwestfest
MUST
SEE,
DO
• COVERED BRIDGE The longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi stands at Knight’s Ferry, an old-time motherlode 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
Today you can still pan for gold—it’s often said there’s more left in the ground than the original 49ers ever took out—but you can also raft some of California’s frothiest rivers, explore caverns and sample Chardonnay and Syrah in uncrowded, up-and-coming wineries.
City & Town
Sacramento was the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad. From there, passengers completed their journey to San Francisco by ferry and barge—and the city still plays a vital role as the jumping- off point for exploring the Gold Country.
Since the arrival of the 49ers, the small towns of the Gold Country proper have morphed through several distinct stages: from rough-and-tumble boomtowns, to somnolent hamlets, to destinations for biker rallies and, finally, to genteel venues for weekend getaways sporting comfortable B&Bs, sophisticated restau- rants, antique stores and nearby wineries. Among the most popular are Sutter Creek, Nevada City and Murphys. The two largest towns of the Sierra foothills— Sonora and Placerville—offer all this, plus a large selection of motels, restaurants and shops in all price categories.
AERIAL VIEW FROM THE CAPITOL BUILDING, Sacramento, opposite; panning for gold, below; Main Street in Columbia, the historic Gold Rush town once known as the "Gem of the Southern Mines," right.
2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 107
ERIK BERGEN/PLACER COUNTY; HANNAH FERRIS PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: NORCAL_KT/SHUTTERSTOCK