A place for golfers, wine enthusiasts
In the late 1840s, the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills area of California brought on a rush of gold seekers, the miners established many new towns. These historical little towns are testimony to American development and make informative and fun get-a-ways and vacations:
Angels Camp is another Gold Rush town founded in 1849, located in Calaveras County along Highway 49. In the towns heyday there were about 4,000 miners. Today its population is at about 3,000.
The town is honeycombed with miles of mine tunnels. Tourists can visit the past at the Angels Camp Museum featuring carriages, wagons and gold mining equipment, and Main Street is still functioning within original buildings.
However, unlike Columbia, this town is not all historic. This is the place visiting golfers and wine enthusiasts can get their fix.
Calaveras County is home to many vineyards, especially around the little town of Murphys.
Only a short drive from Angels Camp on Highway 4, visitors can enjoy the quaint little town that is known for wine tasting from the local vineyards.
Visitors park their cars and walking up and down the main street will find 12 wineries in between the boutique shops. Best of all, the tasting is free and served by a friendly host.
I recommend the good food at Murphys Historic Hotel Restaurant.
Ironstone Vineyards is one vineyard visitors do not want to miss. Only a few minutes by car, the family-owned winery has achieved a level of fame not only for their wines but also for the beautiful culture and arts milieu they created on their grounds.
The Visitors Center has a 36-foot-long tasting bar and an enormous stone fire place 42 feet high, 13 feet deep and 16 feet wide. Visitors are given a free tour of the winery and grounds; do not miss it. The tour includes the amphitheater and lake-side park with multitudes of seasonal flowers. They have a 1927, 15-rank pipe organ in the Alhambra Theatre which is played for guests on the tour.
The winery is phenomenal. The small museum houses local Native American art, books and the largest specimen of crystalline gold in the world. It was found in near-by Tuolumne County in 1992. Crystalline gold is the rarest form of gold and a rare treat to see. This 1,150-acre winery estate is home to many special events, concerts, weddings, car shows and such.
Also in this area are two caverns to visit.
Moaning Cavern offers visitors a chance to repel 165-feet down into the cave or take a guided walking tour.
Mercer Caverns is a subterranean wonderland with unusual crystalline formations, stalactites and stalagmites. There are many stairs, but they are graduated.
Angels Camp is the perfect location for your stay while visiting these sites.
Greenhorn Creek Vacation Cottages proved to be the perfect place for us.
The rentals sit on the 18-hole, par 72 tree lined Greenhorn Creek Golf Course. The stay includes all the amenities like pool, fitness center, etc., for guests to enjoy. The Trent Jones-redesigned golf course was built around three historical sites, the Rock Wall and Well on No. 4, the Chinese Oven on No. 5 and the Tree Well on No. 17.
A dedication and monument on the No. 1 hole honors the firemen lost on 9/11. The Andy Fredrick's Memorial Golf Tournament takes place here each year. I found Greenhorn Creek to be inviting and I especially liked the French Onion Soup served in the Camps Restaurant.
Angels Camp is home to the annual "Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee" the third week May. The event is attended by 4,000 frogs and 50,000 people during the five-day event.
Gold Country is still beckoning to fulfill visitor's dreams, be it a hole-in-one, a fun day at the winery or finding a gold nugget.