Weston-Bond's Travel Blog: On the California Gold Rush Trail

Our favourite part of California was our journey north along highway 49. This highway connects all the gold rush towns including places like Angel's camp, Sutter Creek, Caloma, Placerville, Nevada City and Downieville. Not only does it connect these colourful and quaint towns that have preserved some great gold rush era buildings, but it follows the juicy geology of the motherlode beld (great road cuts to drool over that are begging "ASSAY ME". The south and central sections of highway 49 are in the Sierra Nevada foothills, a rolling savanna type landscape that is absolutely beautiful. This region seems to be now dominated by ranching, however we did notice one small hard rock mine at Sutter Creek (rumour has it took 30 years to permit!). The north end of highway 49 climbs deeper into the Sierra Nevada and ends up following the deeply incised Yuba River. We spent three nights at Sierra Streamside Cabins for Sofia's birthday and managed to get in some fly fishing on a very picturesque section of the river. After reaching Sierra City, the last gold rush town on 49, we ventured over the Sierra Nevada and spent a few days on Lake Tahoe. Apparently it is a zoo around Lake Tahoe in July and August but in June or September it is pleasantly quiet. This lake is something to see with its deepest point being 1645 ft! If you are thinking about a trip to California and want to get away from the coastal congestion then we recommend driving highway 49 and be sure to include a side trip to Lake Tahoe.