A hop, skip, and jump away
Yosemite National Park
90 minutes away via Highway 120. The breath-taking Cathedral of John Muir's beloved Range of Light-Yosemite Valley is perfect for day trips any time of the year as each season brings a different look to the world famous glacier-carved valley guarded by granite peaks such as El Capitan, Half Dome and Three Sisters.
tel: 209-372-0265
url: www.nps.gov
Old Sacramento
Just 45 minutes away via Highway 99. Old Sacramento is where the Pony Express ended its journey and was the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad. It is considered the best restoration of a Gold Rush town and water front in the West. It is also home to the largest railroad museum in the Western Hemisphere and hosts the Old Sacramento Jazz Festival every Memorial Day Weekend. You'll also find Arnold Schwarzenegger's haunts including the state Capitol that still ranks as the most opulent and ambitious restoration of a 19th-century government building anywhere in California.
tel: 916-442-8575
San Francisco
Its fabled 49 hills, Chinatown, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park with its all new state-of-the-art Exploratorium, Union Square and its world class shopping, Fishermen's Wharf and more is 60 minutes away vis Interstate 205.
tel: 415-362-7323
url: www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com
Napa Valley
Its world famous wineries and shoping is just 90 minutes away.
tel: 707-226-7459
url: www.napavalley.org
Sierra Railroad
Sierra Railroad and Oakdale antiquing are just 25 minutes away from Manteca via Highway 120. Ride and dine in restored Old West passenger cars while enjoying scenery unencumbered by power poles and other nuances. See why more than 75 movies and TV shows ranging from "Petticoat Junction" and western movies to "tel: 1-800-866-1690
San Jose
An hour away with such attractions as a Tech Museum of Innovation celebrating the birth of high-tech, one of the original 18th Century California Missions, Winchester Mystery House, and Great America.
tel: 1-800-SAN-JOSE
url: www.sanjose.org
Lodi Wine Country
Its 34 wineries that feature wine tasting rooms is just 30 minutes away.
tel: 1-800-798-1810
url: www.lodiwine.com
The Gold Country
Less than 60 minutes offering everything from Angels Camp where Mark Twain dremed up his famous jumping frog contest to bustling towns where restaurants, specialty stores, and others do business in buildings that date back over 120 years to wilder times. You can enjoy Columbia State Park just outside of Sonora that is a "living museum" as well as the only "working" Gold Country town of its own complete shops. Jamestown, on the way to Sonora, offers the Jamestown Railroad State Park with operating steam engines that you can ride. Sonora itself is a handsome former mining town with brick storefronts, antique shops and a couple of solid restaurants — a fine base for exploring the rest of the southern Mother Lode.