California Mother Lode

California’s Gold Country

California’s picturesque foothills fed by the clear crystal snow runoff from the Sierra, home to the many diverse Native American cultures was forever changed when James Marshall discovered Gold in California at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 and set off the largest gold rush in history. Reminders of this abundantly rich history can be found everywhere along Hwy 49 as it winds and meanders through the Mother Lode mining towns of days gone by, through flowering white dogwoods, olive colored oaks and towering cedar, the remnants of history; old stone cabins and buildings, mining equipment, and stamp mills that were used to crush gold-bearing quartz. Read more