A northern here... I work in Auburn, which is an old Historic Gold Rush town that sits smack dab on Highway 80 about 30 minutes east of Sacramento - Has beautiful scenery, "Endurance Capitol" (has a 100 mile run from Tahoe to Auburn, 100 mile horse ride), on the edge of the American River - 2nd tallest bridge in the US, Kayaking and Canoe. About a 1/2 Hour north is Grass Valley, Nevada City which are old mining towns, lots of interesting stuff. About 45 minutes south is Placerville. About 1 hour east is Lake Tahoe, what I think it the most beautiful place in the world.
Starting Score: EQ 679, TU 697Not sure what time of year you are interested in...gets very hot in the foothills area during the summer, very nice at Tahoe. Winter - well Truckee is usually listed as the coldest spot in the country (remember the Donnor Party?). I am giving the links for both Placer County and Nevada County Tourism sites. Neither one has many "major" hotels...more little places, lots of B and B's. Auburn is pretty much the start of the foothills, climbing up Interstate 80. You might want to spend a day in Auburn, couple in Nevada City or Grass Valley, and then go on to Tahoe or the forest area. All three towns are very historic. If you are into rafting or kayaking Auburn is great, beautiful rivers. Nevada County has some beautiful rivers as well, but not as much for rafting, etc. You might also want to spend some tiime in Sacramento, visit Arnold (although he goes home to So Cal almost every night).
Have fun !
Placer County - which includes Northern Cal side of Tahoe, Squaw Valley, Northstar, Donnor Lake, Auburn, Colfax, etc. tourism website is www.visitplacer.com
Nevada County- Grass Valley, Nevada City, Truckee is http://www.ncgold.com/
@Lel wrote:There's no really inexpensive place along the coast if you want to be in the SF Bay area. Big Sur, Monterey/Carmel, Stinson Beach, Mendocino - all very expensive. If you want to go farther north, to Humboldt County and north towards Crescent City, it's easier to find inexpensive accomodations. This is place to go if you want to see some really big trees, but you can also see big trees closer to home at Sequoia National Park.
If you want to visit a spot that is literally hot, check out Lassen Volcanic National Park. It's one of the least visited National Parks in the country. We visited there about 6 years ago, and loved it. Lots of reasonable but rustic accomodations nearby. It's quite a haul to get there, though, if you're driving.
There's the Napa Valley area. It can be pretty expensive if you want to be in the valley itself or in nearby Sonoma, but if you're willing to be in the city of Napa itself, there are a number of inexpensive hotels there too.
Thank you Lei. I don't like hot places. Luke warm weather is fine for me. I just want to get away from Southern California for a while. I have considered moving, but can't finger if the time is right.
One last thing, Do you know of any groups I can join to travel with? e.g., like I heard of the sierra club or something like that.
Thanks for your replies
Cory
Try this http://www.visitplacer.com/
If it doesn't work, try a search for Placer tourism. I am fairly new to the area, and my usual vacations include shopping, spa's and restaurants so I am not familar with any groups..but I will try check around. Check out El Dorado County as well, it goes from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe, Calaveras County, Amador...these are all gold country areas.