10 Kick-ass things to do in Calaveras county, California

Known for a jumping frog immortalized by Mark Twain, Calaveras county in the Sierra foothills can get overlooked amongst California’s many beauty and adventure spots. This chunk of Gold Country is sort of between everything: 2 hours south of Lake Tahoe, 2 hours northwest of Yosemite, 2 hours east of Sacramento. But there are there are so many fun things to do in Calaveras county! It’s a gorgous area with giant sequoias, icy swimming holes, skiing, caves and — best of all — a laid-back vibe (way less elistest than Tahoe) and no crowds!

Best things to do in Calaveras county, California

1. Tour a cave
   
   Hidden at the end of a windy rural road among sheep pastures, California Cavern (aka Mammoth Cave) is the longest cavern system in the state. Take an easy walking tour of about an hour ($23.32 for adults) and explore multiple levels, including the spectacular Jungle Room and a room covered with historical grafitti. Or sign up for one of two challenging spelunking tours where you wiggle through fissures and even raft across and underground lake. For me, the most challenging part of the expedition was the notorious Womb Room. Call 888-488-1960 for prices on the expedition tours.
   
   Closer to the charming town of Murphys, check out Moaning Caverns, which is actually just one big chamber. Here, too, you can opt for a walking tour ($23 adults) or a spelunking expedition ($130). I recently did the Moaning Caverns spelunking expedition and had a blast!
   
   Don’t forget Mercer Caverns, also not far from Murphys. Its tame and beautiful 45-minute tour costs $22 for adults.
   
   
2. Go swimming
   
   To me, there is nothing better than jumping in icy water on a sweltering day. It gives my skin this electrified feeling that lasts for hours. Calaveras summers offer the perfect conditions for this embrace of opposites, with temperatures that top 100 degrees and snowmelt-fed rivers and lakes.
   
   My favorite swimming hole is in the Stanislaus River, about five miles past the entrance of Calaveras Big Trees State Park, at the River Picnic area. When you enter, check with the ranger about conditions. Some years, the river is running too high and swift for safe swimming. When the river is lower, a sandy beach is waiting for you to spread out your towel.
   
   Reservoirs and lakes are also popular for swimming up here. At the camp my daughters attended, no session would be complete without a trip to little White Pines Lake. Others enjoy New Melones Lake Glory Hole Recreation Area (that is 100% seriously the name of it). But after one visit to Glory Hole I have to admit I wasn’t a fan. There was a lot of garbage and other ick floating in the water and strewn along the shore.
   
   
3. Go swimming in a cave
   
   On a hot day in the foothills, all you want to do is cool down with a dip in cold water or by exploring a cave. Do both at once at Natural Bridges in Vallecito. Pay $8 to park in the lot — which can fill up on summer weekends. Hike down a mile, and you’ll come to some steps down to Coyote Creek. From the comfort of your floatie, check out the calcite formations inside the cave. Bring a headlamp and plenty of water, and for God’s sake pack out your trash!
   
   
4. See giant sequoias
   
   Calaveras Big Trees State Park has many charming hikes. But if you’re in a hurry, just check out its eponymous massive trees within steps of the Visitor Center parking lot, with the North Grove Trail. In a one-hour, mile-and-a-half gentle loop, you can see the Pioneer Cabin Tree and other multi-millenial giants. Particularly fascinating to our family: “The Big Stump,” which once hosted a bowling alley and dance floor. When they cut down this massive tree, they pieced together the bark to recreate the tree (in hollow form) as a traveling show.
   
   For visitors of limited mobility and other disabilities, an even shorter loop, the Three Senses Trail, is an accessible way to get into the redwood grove.
   
   Calaveras Big Trees is also a great place to camp, by the way! Many of the sites are spacious, and as I mentioned earlier, you can often swim or wade in the Stanislaus River.
   
   
5. Putter around town
   
   Murphys is one of those adorable towns where you can lose hours poking through the shops before knowing what hit you. When I travel, my shopping indulgencies are earrings, Christmas tree ornaments, refrigerator magnets and stickers. I’ve found all of the above in the Murphys shops!
   
   I haven’t explored shopping as much in the other Calaveras towns, but people say there are don’t-miss shops in Angels Camp, Arnold and Copperopolis as well.
   
   After shopping you’ll want to eat something. You can’t go wrong with pizza or a burger at Firewood, right on Main Street. Last time I was in Calaveras, we ate at The Watering Hole. The line to choose from their extensive beer list and order food felt a bit hectic, but once we sat down almost everything tasted great. I loved the shishito peppers and dipping sauce, but not so much the red gazpacho.
   
   For a more refined atmosphere in Murphys, my camp counselor daughter recommends Alchemy Cafe. Their Gold Nugget Bread sounds amaze-balls.
   
   After hanging around Murphys, you can cross Main Street to Murphy’s Community Park and dip your toes in Angels Creek.
   
   In Angels Camp, I have just one food recommendation: Treat yourself to a shake from Frosty. There are a ton of flavors to choose from, but I always get a fruit flavor because they have big chunks of fresh-tasting fruit in them.
   
   
6. Sample wine
   
   You might be surprised by the number of wineries in an area that’s known as Gold Country, not Wine Country. The wines are good, too, and like the whole region, unpretentious.
   
   We stumbled into Stevenot Winery off of Hwy. 4 just looking for somewhere dog friendly to get out of the heat. We ended up bringing home a yummy pinot noir and a pinot grigio that’s perfect for summer days.
   
   
7. Hear live music
   
   One place where you can’t help but notice the live music is The Lube Room Saloon, in the Dorrington. The “town” of Dorrington is basically a parking lot containing this saloon/restaurant, a post office and a hotel. But the Lube Room is worth blowing into town for. Sit outside for dog-friendly dining, play games, have a burger and beer, and stay for the music.
   
   We’ve even enjoyed The Lube Room’s free concerts from our camp site at nearby Golden Pines RV Resort & Campground. (Golden Pines, by the way, is a friendly place to camp that often has tent sites available when nearby Big Trees State Park is full. However, they don’t have bear boxes. And according to their web site, their pool is out of commission as of summer 2024.)
   
   
8. Sample wine while hearing live music
   
   Ironstone Amphitheatre is a pleasant place to take in a C-list act, like the Cake concert I recently attended there. (No insult to Cake, I love them! But like me, they had their heyday at least 20 years ago.) And if you join the Ironstone Vineyards wine club, you can bring two bottles of wine into the show! If you don’t join the club, you can still buy wine in the venue for pretty reasonable prices.
   
   Ironstone is the big concert venue, but other wineries advertise live music as well, like Boyle MacDonald Wines’ Music on the Rooftop on Friday nights. And Brice Station Vineyards has a summer concert series as well as hosting theatrical performances.
   
   
9. See the jumping frogs
   
   What Calaveras county list would be complete without a mention of the Jumping Frog Jubilee? The event is actually part of the county fair, held on the third weekend of each May. And it’s a bona fide frog jumping competition. According to official sources, “Professional Frog Teams travel from all over the world to compete.”
   
   You heard me right:
   
   Professional.
   Frog.
   Teams.
   
   Like, amphibious special forces. It’s the Lily Pad Olympics up in here. Basically, “frog jockeys” (I’m not making this up) set down their frogs and encourage them to jump. The frog that jumps farthest is the winner. And lest you worry about how the jockeys “encourage” their frogs to jump, there is an official Frog Welfare Policy.
   
   The event purportedly draws tens of thousands of visitors. You might think a crowd like that would totally overwhelm a rural area like Calaveras. However, my son’s Boy Scout troop happened to go camping up there during the jubilee this year. They didn’t have trouble booking their preferred outing (the Moaning Caverns Expedition) or getting a camp site. Go figure.
   
   
10. Raft the Stanislaus River
    
    Rafting is the one summertime adventure available in Calaveras county that I have not tried: But I am dying to! If you sign up with OARS for the North Fork Stanilsaus River tour, you meet and finish at Big Trees State Park. The trip runs in spring, when the river is most likely to run higher. Trips are April through June, and cost $169 per adult.

Things to do near Calaveras county

I almost included these on my list of things to do in Calaveras county, because we do them when we visit the area. But technically, they’re in other counties:

1. Alpine county: Once you pass through Arnold, Highway 4 takes you up into the High Sierra. There, visit dreamy Lake Alpine, where the air will feel cooler at 7,350 feet (compared to Arnold’s 4,000 feet).
   
   In winter, you can go skiing at Alpine county’s Bear Valley Mountain Resort in Calaveras. I have skied here and enjoyed it. I will say that it’s not a Lake Tahoe level ski resort. I mean, it’s not tiny. It has nine lifts. The lift tickets may cost less than the top Tahoe resorts, but they’re not really cheap either, considering the property’s isolation. It’s $135-$155 per day for adults. The Bear Valley lodge is all vintage charm, and there are also ski-in cabins you can rent.
   
   My one big pointer for skiing at Bear Valley — or any Alpine county recreation, really — is to get your groceries on the way in! Once you pass Big Trees Market in Arnold, it’s 30 miles to the resort. The lodge’s General Store is more of a snack bar, and I don’t recall passing any real grocery stores on that stretch of Highway 4.
   
   
2. Tuolumne county: Check out Columbia State Historic Park. When I visited here, I was so heat dazzled that I only half absorbed what was going on. I saw an old-timey saloon/hotel and a bunch of kids doing pretend gem mining. Apparently, they have ghost tours here sometimes, which might be fun. At worst, it’s a nice place to park and get a photo with the Old West main street in the backdrop. Get yourself ice cream and mosey on with your day.
   
   Also in Tuolumne county is the town of Sonora, which, like Murphys, has a lot of fun shops. Sonora is where the camp staff go on their days off to shop at Wal-Mart and the thrift stores. It also has a cool book store with an underground passageway lined with used books.
   
   If you have a train nut in your group, check out Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, where you can ride a vintage train. At Christmas, they do Polar Express rides.
   

What did I miss? If you’ve been to the area, let me know what you love to do in Calaveras county!