Hard-Rock Mining In California: A Highway 49 Driving Tour To Jackson

Travel through parts of California’s historic Mother Lode, one of the state’s best-known mining districts, and the picturesque Shenandoah Valley on this driving tour along Highway 49. Your journey starts in Placerville and follows lush vineyard-covered backroads to Jackson. You’ll learn about the hard-rock mining era of the California Gold Rush which began in the 1850s, shortly after the area’s placer mines began to run dry. You’ll drive through the California Gold Rush towns of Fiddletown, Amador City, Sutter Creek, and Jackson and see what remains of Treasure Mine, Kennedy Mine and Bunker Hill. On this tour, you’ll also visit the Shenandoah Valley and learn how wine making, which also started in the 1850s, created liquid gold for some of the early pioneers. We’ll point out two wine tasting opportunities along this stretch of highway. Please drink responsibly. Along the way, you can look forward to: • Learning about different types of mining such as placer, hard-rock, and hydraulic • Hearing stories about actual mining life, plucked from the pages of a gold miner’s diary • Finding out about the challenges of traveling to California by land or sea in 1848 • Visiting a water-powered foundry and machine shop • Taking in the beauty of the peaceful, untouched backroads of California • Wandering through the old western-style gold rush towns and perusing their antique stores with the help of our brochures This tour is the second in a series of four driving tours that explores the California Gold Country and covers the area from Auburn to Jamestown. You can enjoy this tour on its own or as part of the series. All stops are optional. Fees to visit parks, trailheads, wineries, or museums are not included in the price of this tour. For detailed information about the stops on this driving tour, please see “Places to stop along the way” in the tour description. This 53-mile driving tour may be completed in about 2 1/2 hours without any stops. On the other hand, this is your adventure. You may stop where you want when you want and for as long as you want. It’s up to you. Happy Adventures! +++ The story of gold miner John Doble is recounted during three of my tours spanning the drive from Auburn to Angels Camp. This story is excerpted with quotes from the book John Doble’s Journal and Letters from the Mines. Voice acting credit: Voice of John Doble, Sam Brannan, and advertisement for Pony Express, by Brandon Baumann Please review the “Precautions” section for important information on driving and hiking. Companion Hiking and Walking Tours of the Gold Rush Country may be found here

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