The Gold Country towns in the Sierra Nevada foothills are the obvious day trip from Sacramento — each one preserves a different aspect of the 1848–1855 Gold Rush era, from Coloma where gold was discovered to Nevada City which still looks like a Gold Rush boomtown. The drive up Highway 49 through the foothills is genuinely scenic, especially in spring when the wildflowers are out.
The Napa and Sonoma wine regions are 90 to 120 minutes west. The Sacramento River Delta, south of the city, offers houseboat rentals and small-town waterfront restaurants at Locke and Isleton — Chinese and Japanese farm communities that date from the Gold Rush era and have a quiet, melancholy charm.
