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Free Traveling Guides » States » California » Gold Country
Highway 49
Highway 49 is a 317 mile long stretch of road seated in the heart of California Gold Country. A ride down this road will take the visitor on a tour through history and tradition, as they pass, and perhaps tour, the many towns that flourished during the original gold rush of the United States. The road, which goes by many names, including Gold Country Highway and The Golden Chain, passes through the nine counties of Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolomne, Mariposa, and Madera as it winds its way from Oakhurst in the south to Vinton in the north.
The history of the gold rush begins in 1849 when a man named James Wilson Marshall, in the process of building a mill, happened to come upon a couple of golden nuggets. It didn’t take long for word to get out, and the next year the hills and valleys were alive with tents and prospectors looking to make their fortunes. The highway is named for these ‘49ers who came seeking a prosperous life. By the time the great mining period ended, more than $2 billion in gold had been extracted. To this day, however, panning for gold is popular along many of California’s streams and rivers, and hundreds of tourists a day still find a little bit of gold to take home as souvenirs.
Highway 49 passes through a plethora of historic mining towns and communities, many of them with activities and historic tours for the visitor to enjoy. Grass Valley, Sierra City, Nevada City, and Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma represent just a small sample of what there is to see and do here.
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