Gold Rush Crusin' in the Sierra foothills; Highway 49 offers look into the

Gold’s discovery in Coloma and nearby Gold Rush history...
With the extended Thanksgiving holiday fast-approaching and family/guests in town, take a day's tour of California's Gold Rush history. Your exploration should include Sutter’s Mill in Coloma's James Marshall Gold Discovery Park, just 80 miles from Stockton, and a scenic tour down Highway 49 through a handful of historic cities on your return home.

Sutter's Mill, site of gold discovery, in Marshall Gold Discovery State Park.

John Sutter (also plan a visit to Sutter's Fort in central Sacramento), a Swedish immigrant, received a Mexican land grant in 1839 giving him rights to develop a good portion of the Sacramento and American River Valleys. As his empire expanded, he needed lumber to fuel his construction projects and he partnered with James Marshall to find and build a nearby lumber mill in the Sierra foothills.

Marshall, along with John Sutter's Indian guide, Nerio, found accessibility in the valley of the Cul-Luh-Mah Native Americans, plenty of pine trees and a river (the South Fork of the American) strong enough to power a sizable sawmill. Since the area around Sutter's Mill was beyond his grant, he signed an agreement with the Nisenan Indians.

The first boards destined for Sutter’s empire in Sacramento were milled in March, 1848 and millwork would continue until only 1850. Marshall would discover gold in the tailrace of the mill on January 24, 1848. Due to gold's discovery, the land soon became too valuable, the Gold Rush was on, California’s population would quadruple and land around the mill was sold for gold claims. The mill's dam was removed, the mill fell into disuse and floods in 1862 destroyed what remained.

Interior of Mormon Cabin, millworker's abode, in Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma.

The Marshal Gold Discovery Park tells the story not only of Sutter's Mill, but of gold mining in the Sierra from 1849 until the latter part of that century. In the park are re-creations of the Arrastre, powered by horses or mules and used by early Spanish settlers to crush rock for gold and small and large crude stamp mills to pulverize rock to release the gold.

Nearby is the huge nozzle of an hydraulic water monitor (cannon), used to wash down the hillsides so the gold could be placer-mined. After streams, rivers and even the San Francisco Bay began to silt-up, hydraulic mining was outlawed by the state in 1884.

The Marshall Gold Discovery State Park is located on Highway 49, 8 miles north of Placerville. From San Joaquin County, go north on Interstate 5, east on US Highway 50 to Placerville, then north on Highway 49 to the park.

Hydraulic water monitor (canon) in Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, Coloma.

From the gold discovery Park, return southbound on Highway 49 come across Highway 50 and tour downtown Placerville, offering 10 blocks of quaint, historic shops and restaurants.

Continue south on Highway 49 to Plymouth, with several blocks of Gold Rush history and eateries, including the regionally-acclaimed Taste restaurant – wonderful food but reservations required. The nearby Shenandoah Valley offers 40+ wineries for sampling of Zinfandel and other regionally noteworthy wines.

Heading further south on Highway 49, take the old Hwy. 49 turn-off to Amador City and Sutter Creek.

Old photo showing hydraulic mining; after washing down silt into the American, Sacramento Rivers and into San Francisco Bay, the practice was outlawed in 1884.

Amador City was founded when Jose Maria Amador, pioneer settler and farmer, mined along an unnamed creek in 1848 and 1849 and found gold. After the easily accessible gold was removed, deep rock mines began to multiply. The Keystone Mine, organized in 1853, became the city's most famous and eventually produced $24 million in gold before closing in 1942. Portions of the old mine, including the rusty headframe, can still be seen towering on the hillside above the town's visitor parking lot.

Amador City offers a quaint five-block walking tour of livable history, including the Amador Hotel, the Imperial Hotel, the Amador School House, a host of old homes and the Keystone Mine. A fine place for lunch or dinner in the city is the Imperial Hotel and Restaurant at the end of the historic district. The hotel offers nine refurbished rooms while the restaurant offers regionally-acclaimed food in a classy, historic setting.

Just two miles away is our favorite gold rush town, Sutter Creek. The old city offers a 10 block stretch of old Main Street complete with bed-and-breakfast, tasting rooms, shops and restaurants. The Hotel Sutter on Main Street is a fine place for lunch or dinner; great pizzas can be found at Gold Dust Pizza, just off Main on Eureka Street.

Sutter Creek's Main Street and historic Hotel Sutter.

Your tour will cover almost 200 miles and offers plenty of diversions.  Plan an early start, pack your walking shoes and binoculars and enjoy a tour of the scenic foothills and the history that put California on the world map in 1849!

Nearby attractions: Indian Grinding Rocks State Park offers additional insight into Native Americans, Murphys and Ironstone Winery offer more history, Black Chasm Caverns affords an opportunity for would-be spelunkers to ply their craft and Columbia State Historic Park further south along Hwy. 49 is a wonderfully preserved Gold Rush town.

For more information: Coloma, parks.ca.gov/?page_id=484, the Marshall Gold Discovery Museum and Visitor Center, 310 Back Street, Coloma, CA 95613, (530) 622-3470; Plymouth, historichwy49.com/amador/plymouth.html; Amador City, amador-city.com/, (209)267-0682; Sutter Creek, suttercreek.org; (209) 267-1344.

Read more from Tim Viall's travel blog, follow him on Facebook or Twitter; or, email him at tviall@msn.com. Happy travels in the west!

California's epic destinations; update your "Bucket List" for 2015!

Point Arena Lighthouse on California's north coast, above the Russian River and Jenner.

The "ghost resort" of Bombay Beach, on east shore of the Salton Sea; a manmade ecological disaster.  The lake was formed in the early 1900s when the Colorado River flooded and roared down old irrigation canals, flooding the Salton Sink; a deep desert valley much like Death Valley.  In the 1970s, two El Nino winters further poured water into the lake, flooding and ruining five resorts around the land-locked lake.  These are the skeletons of former mobile homes on the lake shore.

The Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland, as seen from a Hornblower Yacht cruise.  Photo courtesy of Les Fong.

Recreation of Sutter's Mill in Coloma, CA, site of the original California gold strike in 1848 and lead to the Gold Rush in 1849.

Machete Ridge, part of the newest of our 59 national parks, Pinnacles National Park, 30 miles south of Hollister, CA.

Lake Helen, still frozen in July, on road through Lassen National Park. That's Lassen's stark volcanic peak behind the lake.

We live in, arguably, the most spectacular state in America. With all the wonderful destinations at your beck and call and the start of a New Year approaching, I suggest you update your bucket list of California destinations for 2015.  To whet your appetite, here are some of our favorites – most of them in N. California.

Of California’s nine wonderful national parks, several stand out: Pinnacles, due to its close proximity to the valley and stunning topography.  When you journey to places like Pinnacles National Park, explore the surrounding countryside, which will yield other extraordinary places like Mission San Antonio just 30 miles south, and, across the scenic coastal range, the Big Sur coast. 

Have you made it to Lassen National Park, perhaps the most impressive park of volcanic and thermal features in the country? With mud pots, fumaroles and a volcano that exploded huge boulders for miles less than 100 years ago, it has to be on your list!  Further south, Death Valley is stunning for its austerity, particularly impressive in the spring when rains bring wildflowers in abundance. 

California's State Parks can't be overlooked, from Mt. Diablo State Park – you’ve seen it for how many years on our western horizon, but have  you been to the top, camped in it, and admired the 100 mile views?  How about Calaveras Big Trees and it's towering Redwood groves, or Big Basin State Park, northwest of Santa Cruz in the coastal mountains, oldest of the state’s parks and home to towering Coast Redwoods.  Spring is a fine time to visit these parks, with seasonal streams flowing full and wildflowers coming into bloom.

Have you fully explored San Francisco's unique waterfront? The City offers special places for walking, bicycling, public transit or auto.  Start at the Golden Gate Bridge and explore Fort Point, the only Civil War fort on the West Coast. Travel east past Crissy Field, through the Marina District and stop and explore the San Francisco Maritime Museum and the Hyde Street Pier where a dozen historic ships await your arrival, with Fisherman’s Wharf right next door. 

Skip SF’s tourist-stop Pier 39, continue on the Embarcadero to reach the renovated historic Ferry Building and explore a wealth of cute shops and eateries. Here you can take the ferry to Oakland and return, or take a Hornblower scenic cruise on the bay. Continue south, past AT&T ballpark, across the Lefty O’Doul Bridge into Mission Bay; soon you're in the heart of several commercial shipyards where you can see big ships lying in drydock for repairs. Unique ocean and bay vistas present themselves at every mile of such a trip!

Don't ignore the treasures of our San Joaquin/Sacramento Delta.  From backwater river towns such as Rio Vista, Walnut Grove and Locke, fishing for striped bass, salmon and crayfish, to scores of bucolic orchards and vineyards – you’ll find surprises around every turn.

California's Gold Rush history brings tourists from around the world. The site of California's Gold discovery in 1848 is in nearby Coloma; Mother Lode Gold Rush sites march south down the Sierra. Here you'll find wonderful, historic towns just waiting to be explored. Start at Coloma, include Placerville, Fiddletown, Sutter Creek, Columbia, Sonora, and finish your day tour in Jamestown’s Railtown 1897 (the “movie railroad, with locomotives appearing in scores of movies and TV shows).

Dig into your hometown's history, such as Stockton's. Line up a downtown historic walking tour (call the Downtown Stockton Alliance, 464-5246) and explore the Haggin Museum and San Joaquin Historical Society and Museum.  Discover historic nuggets such as Mokelumne City, which rivaled Stockton for both population and shipping supremacy before a huge flood wiped it off the map in 1861. You will find our city and county’s roots are deeply intertwined in the storied history of our state and region.

The magical Sierra offers so much to see and do. From Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks to big-time ski areas, with fishing, hiking, biking and camping opportunities close at hand.  Camp or hike at such meccas as Pinecrest Lake, Lake Alpine and the Arnold Rim Trail, all within 1.5 hours of town.

When traveling, watch for unique “by accident finds” like the Salton Sea, just south of Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks. A former barren valley well below sea level similar to Death Valley, it became an environmental disaster in the early 1900s when the flood-stricken Colorado River overflowed its banks and flooded the dry Salton Sink, forming a landlocked sea now 35 miles long and 25 miles wide.  The Salton Sea is surrounded by five ghost resorts, created in the 1970s after two very wet El Nino winters raised the lake level by 10+ Feet, flooding homes and ruining casinos.

Pick a favorite movie shot in California, even in Stockton, and explore the film locations. Sideways, which won an Academy Award in 2004, affords a fine day tour of the Santa Barbara County area, yielding film locations including the Hitching Post Restaurant, Los Olivos restaurant and a motel in Buellton, where much of the film was shot.  In Stockton, one can claim film locations such as the Lido Hotel, the old downtown bus station, the Hotel Stockton, University of Pacific and more, sites used in movies like Fat City, All the Kings Men and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Visit California's north coast in the winter or early spring when you can have stunning ocean vistas all to yourself. The coast north of Bodega Bay is amazing, from quaint towns like Jenner and Mendocino, to beautiful oceanfront campgrounds to old Fort Ross dating back to Russian explorers.  Further north, you find Redwoods National Park and continuing California majesty.

So, take the New Year's start to update your own California bucket list – and, get exploring! No list can ever be complete, so polish up your own and share notable destinations that I have missed.  I’ll publish other reader favorites in my upcoming Record Valley Travel blogs!

For additional travel destination inspiration, see my blog: http://blogs.eSanJoaquin.com/Valley travel; to contact me, tviall@msn.com. 
Happy travels in the West!