20 Attractions to Explore Near Historic Calaveras County Courthouse

This is an artificial lake in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada which was formed by the New Hogan Dam. The surrounding of this lake is a perfect place for camping, water sports, fishing, hiking, mountain biking and more.

New Hogan Dam is an embankment dam on the Calaveras River, a tributary of the San Joaquin River in central California. The dam lies east of Rancho Calaveras and impounds New Hogan Lake in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Originally called Mammoth Cave, California Cavern was California’s first show cave and is its longest cavern system. The cavern walking tour takes you through several passageways into multiple chambers on a trail system. On the way, you’ll see a wide variety of beautiful white, cream and caramel colored crystalline cave formations including stalactites, stalagmites, cave popcorn, flowstones and helictites.

The Butte Store stands as a solitary reminder of what was once a vibrant community. An Italian stone mason constructed the building in 1857 to serve settlers and miners as both their post office and general store.

Pardee Dam is a 345-foot -high structure across the Mokelumne River which marks the boundary between Amador and Calaveras Counties. Popular recreational activities include fishing, boating and hiking. Swimming pools located next to the café are available for your enjoyment seven days a week.

The Altaville Grammar School in Altaville, California is one of the oldest grammar schools in California. It was built in 1858 of brick in the Greek Revival style and remained in use until 1950, when it was replaced by the Mark Twain Elementary School in Altaville. After its abandonment, it fell into disrepair, but was restored in 1989 by the Calaveras County Historical Society. The building serves now as an example of a typical schoolroom of the 19th century.

This is a show cave located in Calaveras county. It is named after the gold prospector Walter J. Mercer who discovered the caves around 1885 and filed a claim. It is formed in a marble unit known as the Calaveras Formation. It also contains a large display of aragonite frostwork. The standard tour of the cave descends 160 feet, 208 steps down and 232 up in a traverse between the natural and an artificial entrance.

The St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church is part of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America. It is built on the presumed location of St. Sava's grave. His coffin had been moved from Mileševa Monastery to Belgrade. The coffin was placed on a pyre and burnt in 1595 by Ottoman Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha.

A beautiful public park located in the heart of Calaveras and This park holds fun musical events here (known as “First Fridays“) on the first Friday of the month from June through to the beginning of September.The park is also a beautiful place to hold your wedding or special event.

This is an unincorporated village located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Calaveras County, California, United States. A former gold mining settlement, the main street today is lined with over two dozen wine tasting rooms and surrounded by local vineyards. Nearby attractions include Calaveras Big Trees State Park, Bear Valley Ski Resort and historic Mercer Caverns. The world's largest crystalline gold leaf is displayed just south of town at Ironstone Vineyards.

Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park is located at the transition point between Jackson Gate Road and North Main Street. This park preserves two of the remaining Kennedy Mine Tailing Wheels, the iconic symbols of the City of Jackson that were environmental pioneers during the hard rock mining era of the early 20th century.The park around these historical structures includes a kiosk with historical photographs and information about the engineering and operation of the wheels.

The Kennedy Gold Mine is a gold mine in Jackson, California, one of the deepest mines on the Mother Lode. It closed in 1942 and together with nearby Argonaut Mine. It has since been re-opened as a tourist attraction.

A beautiful reservoir located in Amador County, California. It lies at an elevation of 325 feet. The lake's water is impounded by the Jackson Creek Dam, a 193-foot tall earth-and-rock dam, built in 1965 across Jackson Creek. The dam is 1,140 feet long and 11 feet wide and contains 1,223,000 cubic yards of material.

Moaning Caverns is a solutional cave located in Calaveras County, California, near Vallecito, California in the heart of the state's Gold Country. It is developed in the marble of the Calaveras Formation. It was discovered in modern times by gold miners in 1851. One can visit this place and can understand the things in this cave. not at all a tour, it is a little bit adventurous too.

The Knight Foundry, set in the heart of Sutter Creek, is America's last water-powered foundry and machine shop. It was established in 1873 to supply heavy equipment and repair facilities to the gold mines and timber industry of the Mother Lode. Samuel N. Knight developed a high speed, cast iron impulse water turbine which was a forerunner of the Pelton wheel design. Knight Wheels were used in some of the first hydroelectric plants in California, Utah, and Oregon.

This is a beautiful two-mile round trip hike will lead you to spectacular limestone caverns that have been carved out by Coyote Creek which feeds into New Melones Lake.

New Melones Lake is a reservoir on the Stanislaus River in the central Sierra Nevada foothills, within Calaveras County and Tuolumne County, California. This Lake provides irrigation water, hydroelectric power, flood control, and wildlife habitat. Recreation uses include fishing, camping, and boating within the Glory Hole Recreation Area and Tuttletown Recreation Area.

Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park is a California State Park, preserving an outcropping of marbleized limestone with some 1,185 mortar holes This is the largest collection of bedrock mortars in North America. The park is nestled in a little valley. This museum within the park grounds features a variety of exhibits and a vast collection of Sierra Nevada Indian artifacts.

Black Chasm Cavern is a cave nestled in the hamlet of Volcano, located in Amador County, California. It is a dissolution cave, formed by sulfuric acid resulting from Geo-thermal hydrogen sulfide reacting with down-moving oxygenated surface water.

The Stanislaus National Forest is a U.S. National Forest managing 898,099 acres of land in four counties. Located between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, the Forest landscape is a continuum of natural and scenic beauty that defines the Sierra. Amid soaring crests, sparkling mountain lakes, towering forests, and canyons carved by cool rushing rivers, visitors discover connections with nature and the spirit of the Sierra Nevada.