California old west towns vacation

[LORITHECHICK]

Anyone out there know of any "old west" or "gold rush" type towns in California? We've been to Sonora, that was pretty cool. Always looking for ideas...

[baseballfan]

I found a website for you (it lists other states as well as CA):

http://www.favoritefamilyvacations.com/family-vacations-old-west.html

Also, here's one:

http://www.santaclaritaguide.com/OldWest.html

When I was a kid, my family would go to some gold mining towns in California. Sutter Fort is one, and that is in the Sacramento area.

[LORITHECHICK]

Thanks for the tips. We've been to Sutter Fort and Old Sac in Sacramento, they were both very cool, especially on docent days.
Columbia State park, near Sonora is another one, kinda cool. Haven't been to Jamestown yet, probably this summer at some point. Placerville is another one we've visited, very interesting walkable town.

[Cpogie]

How neat that you visit old west towns! Calico ghost town is a neat place to visit, you can see everything in a day, and they also have overnight camping available, here is the web site, have fun!

http://www.calicotown.com/

[Theresa]

Bodie is a great ghosttown. It is difficult to get to but worth it. Definitely pay to visit the silver mine. The park service guide was fantastic. She really knew her stuff and made it very interesting. Check out the tufas at nearby Mono lake.

Columbia, CA has a large NPS tourist town. We got there to late to check it out but I want to go back.

Theresa

[LORITHECHICK]

Hi Theresa, what is the tufas?

[Cpogie]

This is what I found for the defination of Turfas....

Tufas and travertines uniquely preserve evidence of life from both surface and subsurface environments.

[LORITHECHICK]

Yes, I did a google, "tufas Mono Lake" images search. Looks pretty cool.

[Theresa]

I am not sure of the spelling. Google Mono lake. They are these structures made of mineral deposits that grow up out of the lake. They look like stalagmites.

[Theresa]

http://www.monolake.org/photogallery/photo.htm

[LORITHECHICK]

We went to Grass Valley, CA on Saturday. REALLY cool old west town. Lots of great shops, antiquers delight. Had lunch at the Sierra Railroad cafe. Visited South Yuba River State Park and Empire Mine Historic State Park.
Very rich in history.

[LORITHECHICK]

We're going to visit Virginia City Nevada this weekend...I'll let you know what it's like when we get back...(Tuesday)
There's lots of ghosts here too from what I've read...~~~~spooooky~~~~

[LORITHECHICK]

Best Old West Town I've ever been to...
Virginia City Nevada...the ghosts were sure to drain the battery from the camera...yes, true.
I would gladly return again.

[Jess0587]

Best Old West Town I've ever been to...
Virginia City Nevada...the ghosts were sure to drain the battery from the camera...yes, true.
I would gladly return again.

WOW! Did you get some pictures though??

[LORITHECHICK]

Yes, a few but not as many as we would've like to have had...this place is the coolest...if you ever have the opportunity to visit, it is a must see...

[YMCA MOM]

We go camping in that little town called
Lee Vining, CA .. it's the town you go thru
past Mono Lake ! We've been camping there for
the last 8 yrs and we LOVE it !!

I was going to suggest Bodie but someone else has !

One of my friends and her husband have a 4 x 4 tour
business in So CA . They travel all over !
If you have a 4 x 4 I HIGHLY recommend their tours !

here is their website : http://www.explorehistoricalif.com/