Although hard to imagine today, there was a time when California was not the American promised land but an inaccessible backwater where farmland was handed out to more or less anyone who managed to arrive in one piece. That changed in 1848 when gold was discovered in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains – the heart of what soon became known as the Gold Country.

Far from the state’s present centres of power and occupying tranquil hillsides sloping steadily into the Sierras, the Gold Country’s towns were hastily built to accommodate the biggest population shift ever known – 100,000 (the so-called 49ers) arriving during the peak year of 1849. Many lasted only as long as the gold around them. Those settlements which have endured take pride in their heritage: an impressive number of rough-hewn brick Victorian buildings remains, often lining cobblestoned streets where wooden awnings hang over wooden sidewalks. In some places, even the local gallows have been carefully preserved.

The Gold Country is fascinating to explore at any time, but the best time is early autumn when the high summer temperatures have eased when the tourist crowds have thinned, and when the townsfolk start settling down for the winter. At that time, there are great bargains to be found among the dozens of well-restored hotels, where you can sleep in rooms once occupied by the desperate characters of what was the truly wild west.

Between Sacramento – thanks to its deep water port, California’s state capital since 1854 but a small and easily explored town – and Lake Tahoe, the Gold Country really begins. The fast I-80 is a lacklustre interstate highway and touches only one gold rush town, Auburn. Spend a bit more time and you can easily explore the best plpaces to visit. Branch north off I-80 along a section of Hwy-49 to reach Grass Valley and Nevada City, two of the more elegant gold-rush survivors. With time in hand, pick and choose among our suggestions: they involve substantial detouring on Hwy-49 – the road which is the key to visiting the gold-rush towns.

Further south on Hwy-49 are the most rural settlements of the Southern Mines, described in Sierra Nevada Foothills: Gold County.

TRANSPORT

Amtrak’s cross-country California Zephyr (https://www.amtrak.com/california-zephyr-train) is by far your best, and most hassle-free way to get around since you can book in advance and they operate both bus routes and train routes. (www.greyhound.com), Greyhound buses also operate extensively but are difficult to book in advance unless you’re already in California.