About Calaveras County, CA

Welcome to Calaveras County!

Home of the California Gold Rush and Celebrated Jumping Frog, Mark Twain made Calaveras County in northern California famous, worldwide, when he wrote of the "Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in 1865. The treasures of this enchanting Gold Country area in California continue to enrich the lives of all who visit Calaveras County today.

Copperopolis sits on a lake in Calaveras County. We were put on the map by Mark Twain and the Frog Jump.

Calaveras County is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains - 133 miles east of San Francisco and 135 miles west of Lake Tahoe in California. Calaveras County is found midway on State Highway 49 between Sacramento and Yosemite, linking the towns of the California Gold Country. Calaveras stretches to the east into California's High Sierra wonderland. View our interactive activities guide for all the latest to see and do and Explore Calaveras with our interactive Calaveras County Map!

Calaveras County boasts historic and picturesque gold rush towns, award-winning California wineries and micro-breweries, eclectic art galleries, antique shops, and California gold rush museums. Visit our new "California foodie" website which emphasizes the variety of agriculture and food-centric events and shopping available in Calaveras County. Year-round outdoor adventures are also yours in Calaveras County. Learn the art of panning for gold in California, or go caving in the variety of natural limestone and crystalline-filled caverns. "Zip" 1500 feet on a zip line 100 feet above the earth. Play a round of golf on professional California golf courses stretched out along canyon ridges in the pines or among 200 year old oaks in rolling terrain.
Shopping in Calaveras County is at its most fun and innovative in the tiny, fascinating towns full Gold Country history.

Every season holds its share of fun in Calaveras. Enjoy biking and hiking trails that criss-cross through the giant Sequoias at Calaveras Big Trees State Park and the Stanislaus National Forest. Off highway adventures and the famous Stanislaus River Rafting experience beckon the adventuresome, while California fishing and boating, water skiing, camping, horseback riding and more will keep your entire family or your group of friends entertained.

The many attractions of winter in northern California include first class downhill skiing and snowboarding at Bear Valley Mountain Resort. Enjoy many excellent cross country trails offering silent, pristine scenes of winter wonder and miles of snowmobiling from two-hour to all-day tours around Bear Valley Village or through the woods.

Escape the tensions in your life. Be captivated, entertained, and rejuvenated by this unique part of California Gold Country and the High Sierra. Plan a visit to Calaveras County today!

The Ebbetts Pass Veterans Memorial District will be dedicating their new veterans memorial on Wed. November 11 at 10AM. The memorial is located on Algiers Street across the street from the Murphys Park and consists of a memorial wall where bricks, engraved with a veteran's name and branch of service, will be installed as a permanent memorial. Anyone can sponsor a brick for this this project. The dedication ceremony will feature bugles and the raising of the flag over the memorial. For more information, or to sponsor a brick, call 728-8180.

Bear Valley Cross Country Hosts "Wine Tasting in the Meadow"

Bear Valley, CA....Snowshoe or glide along super scenic, groomed cross country ski trails to a quaint cafe in an open meadow. Then, stop and sample a variety of wines from local foothill wineries at Bear Valley Cross Country's "Wine Tasting In The Meadow" on Saturday, November 28, 2009, from 12:00 noon to 2:30 p.m. Located near the trailside Meadow Cafe on Bear Valley Cross Country's trail system, this popular event will feature wines from local Calaveras Wineries including Chatom, Black Sheep, Bodega del Sur, Ironstone and Milliaire wineries, to .....


name a few. Fruit, crackers and cheeses, provided by Bear Valley Cross Country, round out the tasting. The cost is $10.00 per person (not including a cross country trail pass). Participants must be at least 21 years of age and must show up by 1:00 p.m. to participate. Advance reservations are required for "Wine Tasting in the Meadow", as space is limited.

The Wine Tasting in the Meadow is part of the Bear Valley Village's annual Winterfest Celebration. The festivities continue in the afternoon with several Open House celebrations at various Bear Valley businesses, followed by the
evening festivities held at the Bear Valley Lodge, including a contest for kids, Bear Valley School bake sale and the popular Winterfest Fashion Show and raffle. Music and dancing round out the evening's festivities, all to be held in the Cathedral Lounge of the Bear Valley Lodge.

Call (209) 753-2834 for Wine Tasting in the Meadow reservations and for more information. The event will take place with or without snow.

Bear Valley Cross Country, P.O. Box 5120, Bear Valley, CA 95223 * (209)753-2834 * www.bearvalleyxc.com

2M and 10K Run and Walk, Copperopolis

28 November, 2009

Well, another year rolls around and another run is going to happen. It's a 2M and 10K run and walk starting at town square. I am looking for 10 volunteers. The run is Nov 28, just after thanksgiving, it starts at 8am for registration. For more information, contact the Copper Area Business Association: Sue tacktoday@goldrush.com

Copperopolis, California was founded in 1860 by William K. Reed, Dr. Allen Blatchly, and Thomas McCarty, at the site of the second big discovery of copper ore in the region (the first was nearby Telegraph City).

The town grew rapidly, as the need for copper during the Civil War to make bullets was great. Several brick structures remain in Copperopolis. The largest was once the Federal Armory and served as headquarters for the 3rd California Infantry soldiers and the Copperopolis Union Guard, a military company organized of volunteer miners during the Civil War.

After the war ended, the expense of mining and shipping copper proved to be too high and the population dwindled as the mines closed. However, a Boston company purchased the mines in the 1880s and mining operations resumed. The town went through boom periods during the two World Wars, when demand for copper went up again. By the time the mines closed in 1946, according to the U.S. Bureau of Mines, they had produced 72,598,883 pounds of copper worth over $12 million.