Calaveras County is part of California's historic gold country. Each year, in addition to the many other activities and attractions Calaveras County offers, it's rich history and colorful past are also a source of fascination. You can even try your hand at gold panning in several of our streams.

Angels Camp ~ This is near two gold camps, Douglas Flat and Vallecito, and nine miles from Murphys. Benneger Raspberry helped prolong the population boom here by firing his gun in disgust at the ground when the ramrod stuck. The rod broke off a chunk of gold-bearing quartz, bringing new life to the camp. The large waterwheel on the south side of town was used to operate an arrastre, or ore-grinding mill. Mark Twain got the information for The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County from bartender Ben Coon here at the still-standing Angels Hotel, as frog jumping contests were a favorite diversion for the miners in the 1860's. There is a modern-day Croaker College in San Francisco, where future-Olympian frogs are trained for jumping contests. Upon successful completion, each graduate dons cap & gown and bounds up to the podium to receive his W.J. (Will Jump) degree. These frogs, along with ordinary and unlettered croakers, have a chance each year to win the crown at the Calaveras Jumping Frog Contest held here.

Murphys ~ The "Queen of the Sierras", this well-preserved town was settled in 1848 by the Murphy brothers, John and Daniel, who left a year later with a fortune from placer mining here. It is now a base of operation for and gateway to Calaveras Big Trees State Park and Ebbets Pass ski areas, such as Mt. Reba. The c.1855 Sperry Hotel, now the Murphy's (or Mitchler) Hotel, has original guest registers with the signatures of Mark Twain, Ulysses S. Grant, and Black Bart, and bullet holes in the doorway from an earlier gun battle.