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The California 49ers of 1849 had one thing on their mind; find gold.

GOLD COUNTRY, CA

Dave
2004-02-21 14:03:07

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The California 49ers of 1849 had one thing on their mind; find gold. This country from the southern Sierra to the northern Sierra was picked over and well searched for that precious golden metal. Today, there is still gold in the hills but there is also much more. Old mining towns have seen a recent boom because of the increase in tourism. The mines have long since been shut down and now quaint shops, stores, restaurants and historic hotels have opened in their place. This article focuses mostly on the southern central mining towns from Mariposa in the south to Murphys in the north. Parts of Tuolumne, Mariposa, Calaveras, and Stanislaus County are covered here.

The weather varies a bit from town to town along this stretch of southern gold mining towns. Generally the summers are warm to quite hot and very dry. July through September are the months during the prime fire season. By this time of year the vegetation is very dry and will easily burn.

The winters can be cold especially at nights. Some of the higher mining towns may receive several inches of snow. When the sun is out in the winter the days can actually warm up nicely. I have been in the southern mining town of Coulterville in the middle of December and I have been quite comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. Usually the days are not this warm and jeans and a sweater would be preferred.

The town of Sonora is used as a reference point because it is larger then most of these mining towns and also because it is centrally located in relation to the other mining towns.
These caves mentioned below are publicly owned caverns. Mercer caverns mentioned with the description about the town of MURPHYS are privately owned. Moaning Cavern is located off of Parrotts Ferry Road between the small town of Vallecito on Highway 4 and one arm of New Melones Reservoir. It is located 8 miles north of Columbia State Historic Park. This cavern unlike most caves ...