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JZ
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Anyone know some cool, small towns inland in Northern California?
Thinking about doing a 5-7 day road trip this week and looking for suggestions on places to see. Anywhere above SoCal really.
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JZ
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How is Columbia?
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AKgringo
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Drive north on highway 49, and you will pass through quite a few interesting smaller towns. Grass Valley and Nevada City (where I am) have a lot of
mining history, and things are starting to come back on line.
Will you be hauling bikes with you? If you want to play with chainsaws and heavy equipment, I have some bug killed trees that need to come down. You
would be impressed with the camp fire you can build with a bulldozer!
I am about forty miles from Donner Summit if spring skiing is on your mind. Sugar Bowl is a classic resort started by Walt Disney in 1937, and is a
well run area. As a pass holder, I can get a 50% discount for friends and family skiing with me.
https://www.sugarbowl.com/home
[Edited on 3-28-2021 by AKgringo]
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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BajaNomad
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Thread Moved
3-28-2021 at 12:53 AM |
RFClark
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If you haven't driven north on Hwy 101/1 this is the time of year.
Santa Barbra
Pismo Beach - famous Clam Chowder
Solvang Danish Village
If open Anderson’s pea soup restaurant Buelton CA
Moro Bay
Hurst’s Castle San Simeon
Monterey Bay
San Francisco- The Cliff House next to the Sutro Baths both closed
Golden Gate Park
North of the Golden Gate Bridge take HWY 1 as far as you have time to drive! It’s worth the trip!
Post a trip report wit pictures!
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mtgoat666
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Bakersfield! At minimum, I never pass by Bakersfield w/o stopping at Dewar’s (Eye St location) for a sundae and box of peanut butter taffy chews.
Lots of good places to see minor league baseball on California road trip outside of the big cities, not sure what Covid has done to schedules...
San Francisco, great city,... but not during covid when indoor activities are limited...
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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David K
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Hwy. 1 is good as is Hwy. 49 (the road named for the 49ers, gold seekers). My mom owned the old Chinese store in Coulterville (between Mariposa and
Sonora) for a few years. It had an 'opium den' in the basement, she learned.
By biological father lived in Diamond Springs (near Placerville). Nearby, in El Dorado, was Poor Red's and Rich Opal's BBQ & Saloon... creators of
the Golden Cadillac drink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Cadillac
My bio father was Opal's son-in-law.
Tons of history...
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amigobaja
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Eastern sierras Hwy 395. Lots of cool small towns and the mountain tops are spectacular right now. A lot safer and cleaner then the rest of
californication.
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thebajarunner
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Definitely head up 49 and loop over to 395 for the return down the eastern side of the Sierra.
Coming up 99 (after about a 4 minute stop in the goat's favorite town of Bakersfield---- certainly an oasis that only a goat could enjoy)
Take 41 out of Fresno to Oakhurst and then you will be treated to a long chain of very interesting little foothill towns.
You asked about Columbia.... it is just half hour from us. Interesting, lots of history. Stop off in Sonora at the Diamondback Grill for an
authentic and casual meal.
My favorite spot on this trek is taking Hwy 4 up from Angels Camp to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. This is a real gem of a park, compact two mile
walk through the redwood giants. Be sure to stop in Murphys for an excellent meal, lots of shops for the ladies.
Up on 49 and back on 395 is about as good as it gets.
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AKgringo
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If you should make it as far north on 49 as Grass Valley, the Empire Mine State Park is a literal gold mine of information. Over five million ounces
of gold came from the heart of the motherlode here!
I am not sure if the traditional tours have re-started due to covid 19 restrictions, but the tour guides were actors in period appropriate clothing.
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=499
Walking the streets of Nevada City (four miles away) is an interesting side trip!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Lee
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Hgwy 1 has been closed S. of Big Sur, N. of Lucia, for repairs for 2 months. Opens this Summer.
US Marines: providing enemies of America an opportunity to die for their country since 1775.
What I say before any important decision.
F*ck it.
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JZ
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Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner  | Definitely head up 49 and loop over to 395 for the return down the eastern side of the Sierra.
Coming up 99 (after about a 4 minute stop in the goat's favorite town of Bakersfield---- certainly an oasis that only a goat could enjoy)
Take 41 out of Fresno to Oakhurst and then you will be treated to a long chain of very interesting little foothill towns.
You asked about Columbia.... it is just half hour from us. Interesting, lots of history. Stop off in Sonora at the Diamondback Grill for an
authentic and casual meal.
My favorite spot on this trek is taking Hwy 4 up from Angels Camp to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. This is a real gem of a park, compact two mile
walk through the redwood giants. Be sure to stop in Murphys for an excellent meal, lots of shops for the ladies.
Up on 49 and back on 395 is about as good as it gets. |
Thank you and AKgringo for this advice. Looks like a good way to go. I've driven the 395 many times, but never the 49.
I followed a lot of your advice on a 14 day trip through Oregon last year and that was spectacular.
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thebajarunner
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Yeah, I do give good advice.... such as streak through Bakersfield at flank speed....
If you want another great little side trip come down from Sonora on Hwy 108 to Knights Ferry.
Lots of history, Gen U S Grant family owned the ferry, he stayed here for a while between wars. Best covered bridge west of the Mississippi is here.
U2U me and I will meet you and give you a guided tour, maybe even come by the house, just ten minutes from the bridge, for a Pacifico.
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AKgringo
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Best covered bridge?
The bridge across the south fork of the Yuba River was my favorite swimming hole when i was a teenager. It is about twenty minutes from my house.
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=29821#:~:text=The%20Bridge...
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner | Yeah, I do give good advice.... such as streak through Bakersfield at flank speed....
If you want another great little side trip come down from Sonora on Hwy 108 to Knights Ferry.
Lots of history, Gen U S Grant family owned the ferry, he stayed here for a while between wars. |
Lol 
Y’all dismiss bakersfield as gritty and industrial, And make a bee line for the old timey mining towns where the only significant business in town
today is service industry or living on the dole,...
And you got no idea that bakersfield is the the modern analog for the old timey mining towns, and back in the olden days you would have considered the
mining towns to be gritty, dirty chitholes.
Anyhow, bakersfield has a lot going on. And it is sort of interesting to see a city where business is booming and it is ag, mfg and heavy industry -
and not service industry and computer tech.
Btw, bakersfield has 10,000 times the history of knights ferry. Grant ran a ferry there? That is probably about all that has happened in knights
ferry
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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WestyWanderer
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Murphy’s is a neat little town in the area of Angels Camp and near the 49 route. Have stayed there before for work, quaint with a nice downtown
area.
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advrider
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I live in the gold country off of 49 in a little town of Sutter creek. I agree with driving 49, many, many cool places. If you make it to this area
there are mine and cave tours. Black chasm caverns are in the little town of Volcano.
Everything that AKgringo and David said are good areas as well. Lots to see and do on Highway 49..
thebajarunner named some great spots, we did most of that drive last year and really enjoyed.
[Edited on 3-29-2021 by advrider]
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JZ
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Probably won't go above Tahoe. What's the most scenic route to cut over from the 49 to the 395?
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bajafreaks
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Highway 49 to Jackson then take 88 all the way into NV. You hit 395 in Gardnerville (my home town).
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thebajarunner
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I agree that 88 is a great route across, actually my favorite
But that takes you off the 49 long before you get up to the areas mentioned by AKg
Maybe double back to there, but certainly continue on up to Nevada City before you decide on the cross over.
Or, you could just go back to Bakersfield, the Mecca of the West and hang out there for a few minutes and see all the highlights
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David K
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Don't be dissin' Bakersfield!
Bakersfield has been the home of some of America's finest:
Buck Owens of HeeHaw,
Rick & Roger Mears and the Mears Gang (Baja to Indy Racing),
and our very own TMW of Oildale University fame!
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