Coloma

In January 1848 James Marshall found gold in the tailrace of a sawmill he was building for John Sutter on the South Fork of the American River. Within two years the world had arrived. Coloma is where that happened, and most of the town is now Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park.

From Arnold it is a little over two hours north on Highway 49, and it pairs naturally with Placerville twenty minutes away or Apple Hill in autumn.

The park spreads along both sides of the highway: a working replica of Sutter's Mill, the monument on the hill above Marshall's grave, restored buildings including a Chinese store and an old jail, a museum, and shaded picnic ground under the oaks by the river. It is walkable, flat and easy to spend three hours in without trying.

Gold panning is part of the visit — concessionaires run panning and sluicing sessions for children and adults, and the park sells the story with unusual honesty, including what the rush did to the Nisenan people whose land this was.

The South Fork of the American through Coloma is California's most popular whitewater river, and the town is the launch and take-out base for a long list of licensed outfitters. Half-day and full-day trips through Troublemaker and the Gorge run from spring into late summer on dam-supported flows, which is why the season here outlasts most rivers.

Outside a raft, the river is also a swimming and picnic river in high summer, with gravel bars and slow pools inside the park. Flows are controlled and can change quickly, so read the posted warnings and ask the park about current conditions before swimming.