Get a taste of frontier life as you retrace the history of California’s boom-and-bust Gold Rush, a defining event of the 1800s. Pan for the glittering metal and see merchants in period dress recreate life as it was in the 1850s at Columbia State Historic Park. Climb aboard an inflatable raft for a bump-and-splash whitewater […]
El Dorado County sits at the north end of California’s famed Mother Lode, the 120-mile gold vein discovered in the late 1840s which became the site of the Gold Rush. Today, the region is better known for its visitor attractions, agriculture, and old-vine zinfandel. These Sierra foothills range from 1,200 to 3,500 feet and hundreds […]
The roots of old zinfandel grapevines run deep in the Gold Country with winemaking here dating back to the Gold Rush days of the 1850s. Now, an explosion of wineries, wine tours, tasting rooms, and restaurants specializing in wine country cuisine has added a jolt of grape-fueled energy to the Sierra foothills where more than […]
Along with picks and shovels, people brought grapevines to the Sierra Foothills in the mid-1800s. And we’re glad they did! Once planted, many of the vineyards in this region operated non-stop, even during the Prohibition years. Today, this region is blessed with small, distinctive vineyards and wineries, beautiful scenery, quiet gold rush towns, and fresh […]
Although the California Gold Rush of 1849 is long past, the quaint towns and fertile land of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains still whisper “gold.” Peaches, pears, apples, nuts, and wonderful wines are the prizes of today. There’s so much to do in Gold Country. The colorful lore of the Gold Rush lives […]
You are in a great place when it is the site of the California Gold Rush. The discovery of gold in 1848 led to the establishment of hundreds of instant mining towns along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Most mining camps were nothing more than temporary encampments established where a section of a […]
Cashing in on some gold rush history, we recently traveled California Highway 49 sampling the distinct flavors of the region. This is where a local wine industry is emerging as the new Mother Lode. El Dorado County’s Grace Patriot Wines, a family-run business, provides not only award-winning wine, but history to the area. Their scenic property lies […]
Soon after the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, in nearby Coloma by James W. Marshall in 1848, sparked the California Gold Rush, the small town of Old Dry Diggings sprang up. This mining camp was named after the manner in which the miners moved cartloads of dry soil to running water to separate the gold from the soil. […]