Cutting a serpentine swath for nearly 350 miles along Hwy. 49, the Gold Country's mining sites, horse ranches, ghost towns, Gold Rush architecture, and Wild West saloons stretch from Sierra City to the foothills of Yosemite. The town of Placerville, 44 miles east of Sacramento at the intersection of U.S. 50 and Hwy. 49, is in the approximate center of the region. To the north are the old mining towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City, while in the central and southern Gold Country are such well-preserved towns as Amador City, Sutter Creek, Columbia, and Jamestown.
