This area of California has it all except the coastal beaches. Plenty of rivers & waterfalls will satisfy your need for water. Dense forest, recreational activities, gold mining history. Small towns with bed & breakfast, antique shops, restaurants, wineries, give everyone something interesting to visit. Great backroad camping & tons of lodging make this corridor of the state a big destination point for many.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park Columbia State Historical Park Big Oak Flat El Dorado National Forest Indian Grinding Rocks SHP Kaweah Oaks Preserve Plumas National Forest Railtown 1897 State Historical Park Stanislaus National Forest Tahoe National Forest Yosemite National Park

Activity	Areas
mountain biking / horseback	El Dorado NF
boating / fishing	Stanislaus NF
snowmobiling / snow skiing	New Melones Resrvr.
backpacking / camping / hiking	Don Pedro Resrvr.
river rafting / kayaking	American River
wine tasting / picnics	Consumnes River

Great mellow hikes along American River near Auburn. Mountain bike & hiking trails are everywhere. Stop in to the local ranger station along Hwy. 49 just south of Auburn & ask for a free map.	area activities include: American River Camping & Backpacking Caverns& Caves Fishing Gold Panning Gold Mines Hiking & Sightseeing Horse Back Rides Historical Tours Lakes & Streams Restaurants & Antique Shops River Rafting Snow Skiing Scenic drives & views
Rafting on the many Rivers in the western Sierra is a popular sport. Guided tours offer mellow floating to extreme adreninaline rushes.

Itinerary Ideas:

Drive to Sacramento area & then head northeast on Interstate 80 to Auburn. Highway 49 will intersect the interstate in Auburn & this is a great town to start your southbound journey. North you will hit up suburban sprawl way in the mountains & eventually up to more remote areas like Downieville & Gold Lake (this one is a must see). South on Hwy. 49 from Auburn you will wind you way thru American River & Stanislaus River Canyons & further on to small Gold Rush towns way further south.

Southern Stretch Hwy .49 Northern Stretch expect to see: Oak Trees River Rafters Reservoirs Horses Tourists expect to see: Rivers Fishing Mtn. Biking Lakes Hiking towns along way: Amador City Angels Camp Jackson Placerville Plymouth Sonora Sutter Creek Auburn seems to be the Center of Gold Country towns along way: Downieville Grass Valley Nevada City Sierra City

El Dorado National Forest & Stanislaus National Forest are real closeby making the small towns very close to nature.

Plenty of dirt backroads to explore as well. Stock SUV's will have no problems discovering a perfect spot to picnic, camp or just killing a day trying to 'get lost on purpose'. If getting lost sounds like no fun, make sure you have plenty batteries for that GPS. Streams, pine trees, wildflower meadows, granite, great views.. it all awaits you here in Gold Country California.