Step back into history to the vibrant era of the 1849 Gold Rush! A single Eureka! event changed history forever early in January 1848, at Sutter's Mill on the American River, the first gold discovery site. Make a journey on the circuitous Gold Country backroads to museum-quality mining towns on a tour around California's 'Golden Triangle' via Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite National Park, covering one-fifth of the Golden State's most scenic geography. Whether exploring James W. Marshall's first gold strike on the American River South Fork or visiting the bounty of vintage mining towns along State Highway 49's Golden Chain, the 300-mile adventure explores the once legendary gold mines, tent camps, their surrounding lakes, rivers, and streams. It's a path of history bringing the magnetic, frantic lust for gold drawing the miners and tradesmen into the goldfields, and within a year the search for the precious mineral generated the single largest mass migration ever recorded. The Gold Country today offers legendary lodging, handcrafted goods, delicious farm to fork foods, craft beer, wine, and spirits, with an unlimited choice of vacation and recreational opportunities.With a 50-year career living in the Gold Country, taking dozens of loops over the rigorous curves of Highway 49's steep river canyons, I encountered Coloma and my first impressions of seeing Sutter's Mill during a family trip in 1972. Curiosity piqued my interest hearing the intriguing stories from the early Gold Rush days and collecting some books on the history. A vision emerged for planning tours to the mining towns, and I began creating several guidebooks on visiting neighboring ghost towns and landmark communities of the original gold mining camps. I trekked along the old prospectors' trails from a hundred and fifty years ago, earnestly making photographs and gathering an array of vintage and contemporary Gold Country literature. The Henness Pass from Marysville to Sierra County went right near my home, once traveled by horse and wagon as the fastest way to the gold and silver mines of California and Nevada. I often crossed the Yuba River South Fork at Bridgeport using the old covered wooden bridge when returning from the valley to my majestic mountain home near North San Juan. Our Golden State's history is a reminder of how we stand many miles above the hidden treasures and veins of precious minerals, just beneath our feet.However, the story is much larger than gold mines and vivid tales of Gold Rush nuggets and unfolds with accounts of pioneering determination that evolved into individual successes and sorrows. As I began publishing my first tour books during the mid-1990s and witnessed mining towns in transition all along the Golden Chain. With the new generation of businesses and settlers renovating old buildings and repopulating the foothills, the Sierra Nevada foothills' interconnected towns and highways are still clear examples of true core American values. The Gold Rush history defines the beginning of California's serendipitous 'mythical' time called the gilded age and represents one of the most evolutionary times in modern America. The golden era is a time capsule of adventure and exploration over an immense geographical region, from the Sierra to the Sea. I am hopeful this new travel edition enables the reader to gain a far better sense of the Golden State's pivotal role in American history and enjoy a trip into the countryside.
