With kids back in school and the summer crush of tourists waning, it’s time for a weekend getaway in the nearby Sierra foothills. Highway 49 is just an hour away, so take a day or weekend tour of Gold Country and sample history, quaint towns and scenic attractions along the route! Start your tour at […]
Crafter’s Barn at High Hill Ranch is popular with holiday shoppers! Lone angler awaits trout bite at High Hills Ranch trout pond, looking out upon the High Sierra in distance. Lifesize stagecoach and horse art await visitors to Apple Hill this fall (photo courtesy Sally Kulik) Sutter’s Mill replica, site of first CA gold […]
Wells Fargo stagecoach rumbles into Columbia, offering rides to visitors to Columbia State Historic Park. On Wednesday, we shared a feature on Sonora, its Gold Rush and lumbering history (http://blogs.esanjoaquin.com/valleytravel/2014/10/08/sonora-visitor-friendly-cross-roads-of-gold-rush-and-lumbering-history/) and mentioned nearby attractions. Here is a bit more insight on two, both within about six miles of Sonora: Columbia (just four miles north), took root […]
Kids, including author’s grandson Hunter, curly hair, can pan for gold and agates at Columbia State Historic Park! The Wells Fargo Stagecoach offers rides through Columbia State Historic Park! A couple of reasons to head for the High Sierra in the near future: For a great excuse to visit Calaveras Big Trees State Park (up […]
Columbia’s old firehouse was made to both withstand fire (with tin sheathing to withstand flames) and to fight fires that often ravaged Gold Rush cities. Columbia’s main street is closed to vehicle traffic; you’ll find docents ready to share what the city was like in 1855. The eves of an old Westside Lumber building […]
Parrotts Ferry Bridge; look closely and you will see the center arch’s sag (as well as the very low water in New Melones Lake). Gold Rush explorers taking Hwy E-18 between Vallecito and Columbia in the central Sierra foothills get both a scenic drive, and cross the interesting Parrotts Ferry Bridge, arching (and sagging) high over New […]