The California Mother Lode

James Marshall discovered Gold in California at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 and set off the largest gold rush in history. Reminders of this abundantly rich history can be found everywhere along Hwy 49 as it winds and meanders through the Mother Lode mining towns of days gone by, through flowering white dogwoods, olive colored oaks and towering cedar, the remnants of history; old stone cabins and buildings, mining equipment, and stamp mills that were used to crush gold-bearing quartz.

To view natural California gold nuggets, visit gold nugget prospecting