Jackson sits in the middle of California's Mother Lode, with several historic mining towns and the Shenandoah Valley wine region all within easy driving distance.
- Sutter Creek — just up Highway 49, the prettiest small mining town in the area, with antique shops and the Knight Foundry
- Volcano — a tiny hamlet east of town with the cave site at Black Chasm and a single-table restaurant; a working time-capsule of the 1850s
- Daffodil Hill — north-east of Volcano, a private property opened each spring (when the flowers permit) with hundreds of thousands of daffodils
- Shenandoah Valley — east of Plymouth, the region's wine country, especially good for Zinfandel; many bodegas offer tastings