A Guide to Gold Country

The Gold Country

California's Gold Country is the area that covers the length of Highway 49, named after the 49'ers (the actual 49'ers, not the football team). This guide focuses on the chunk of it, which I think is the best road trip in the west. The entire 49 is worth doing as a road trip, but for the sake of this guide, I'm focusing on my favorite section of it - the middle.

This section actually follows the 88 from the Hope Valley area to Jackson & then up the 49 to Placerville with a side trip up Shenandoah Road for the best wine tasting in California. The area holds a ton of California history, so if you're learning about the colonial history of California & the Gold Rush era, this is where you should visit. You could probably drive the entire length of the 49 and not hit every single historical place. There are a lot of waterways in the area that intersect through it. Which is part of what made it the central area of the gold rush because of the geographic landscape that made it unique for gold mining.

The thing I love about this area is you can go to the little towns in the area at night & go wine tasting (also fun to do during the day), and have great food, & sleep in town if you're not into camping - or you can go camp and still come to town and do all of those things. It's a great trip for someone like me who likes getting dirty & spending time outside and in the backcountry, but I also like really good food and wine. There's something for everyone on this trip. You can walk on a dirt trail for an hour and a half, see wildflowers, swim, go wine tasting, learn about history, and more. You could travel with a group that has the broadest spectrum of interests and everyone will have fun.

When to Visit

This part of California is actually best visited during shoulder seasons. It's a great place to visit when other parts of California are too muddy, or too hot still.