67 Best Sights in Sacramento and the Gold Country, California

Guided 45-minute tours take you past stalactites, stalagmites, and rare formations of delicate helictites in three underground chambers, one of which also contains a lake. Black Chasm isn't the largest cave in the Gold Country, but its crystals dazzle both eye and camera—the Landmark Chamber, the tour's third stop, inspired a scene in the 2003 film The Matrix Reloaded. Outside is an area where kids can "pan" for crystals.  The same outfit also conducts tours of California Cavern State Historic Landmark, 32 miles south of Volcano, though the days open are less regular.

In 1972, Greg Boeger revived a gold rush–era farm that once supported fruit and nut orchards, a winery, and a distillery. These days Boeger produces estate wines from 30 varietals grown on two parcels totaling 100 acres, with Sauvignon Blanc and Barbera the best sellers and Zinfandel and Primitivo also worth seeking out. The creek-side picnic area fronting the tasting room hosts bands on Friday evenings in summer (reserve space well ahead).

More than 150 vehicles—from Model Ts, Hudsons, and Studebakers to modern-day electric-powered ones—are on display at this museum that pays tribute to automotive history and car culture. Check out a replica of Henry Ford's 1896 Quadricycle and a 1920s roadside café and garage exhibit. The museum is south of Downtown and Old Sacramento.

Showcasing longtime and temporary residents who helped elevate the Golden State, this museum contains permanent exhibits covering statehood, the experiences of California Native Americans, life for Japanese Americans in World War II internment camps, and the impact of women. The California Hall of Fame honors Walt Disney, Jackie Robinson, Bruce Lee, Amelia Earhart, writer and Sacramento native Joan Didion, and other familiar names.

At this reconstructed 1876 station there's rolling stock to admire and a typical waiting room. On some days, a train departs from the freight depot, south of the passenger station, making a 50-minute out-and-back trip that starts along the banks of the Sacramento River. Cookies and hot chocolate are served aboard sellout Polar Express rides (book way ahead) between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This winery's owner envisioned his sleek hospitality space as "a country club" for experiencing wines by the glass or flight, with or without the charcuterie and cheese sold on-site (tapas on Friday and weekends). The tasting room and adjoining patio edge the 32-acre estate vineyard, which you can hike. Winemaker Scott Johnson's red blends and Cabernets stand out, as does the unconventional, canned, dry-hopped Viognier sparkler (Johnson also brews beer).

Chris Walsh, a former sommelier, crafts taut natural wines, among them Pinot Gris, Zinfandel, and Primitivo. Walsh presents them three days a week at a combination tasting room, restaurant, and gallery with seating indoors and out. Some fans drive for miles for the house burger.

Take a self-guided tour of this fully lighted mine shaft within a park owned by the City of Placerville. The worthwhile audio tour (included) makes clear what you're seeing. A shaded stream runs through the park, and there are picnic facilities.

Lodi grape growers since the 1900s dawned, the Harney family only started a winery in 2006. Three Zinfandels star in a lineup that includes Albariño, Chardonnay, two rosés, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Primitivo, Tempranillo, and an old-vine Zinfandel port-style dessert wine. Extend your tasting with a glass in the "forest" garden, where three-century-old cedars supply the shade. Learn about the family and Lodi on the Home Ranch Tasting & Tour.

Splashier than many of its neighbors and a draw as much for its restaurant and seasonal live music as its wines, family-operated Helwig occupies a hilltop steel, wood, and glass tasting space with knockout views. The winery specializes in fruit-forward reds, most notably Barbera, Graciano, and Tempranillo; the sparkling rosé of Sangiovese shines among the lighter wines.

The impeccably maintained gardens at 1,150-acre Ironstone—not to mention the mining-history museum and 44-pound specimen of crystalline gold on display—make a visit here enjoyable even if you don't drink wine. Known for Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, old-vine Zinfandel, and whites including Albariño and Chardonnay, the winery hosts concerts and other events. Its deli has picnic items. The history-oriented estate tour, conducted on Friday and Saturday, takes in the gardens and wine caverns.

Known for elegant, fruit-forward wines with velvety tannins, Jeff Runquist specializes in Barbera, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah but makes several other reds and Muscat Canelli, Verdelho, and Viognier whites. His tasting room ranks among the Shenandoah Valley's jolliest.

The downtown tasting room of owner-winemaker Jeremy Trettevik has the feel of an old-time saloon, though in good weather everyone sips in the umbrella-shaded patio out back. Creative red blends are the specialty, with sweet yet clean-on-the-palate wines like the Bluebonnet Albariño–Orange Muscat blend among the lighter options. Tastings are also held at the winery (closed Tuesday and Wednesday) in nearby Lockeford.

On weekends much of the year and some major holidays, docents conduct guided 90-minute surface tours of one of the gold-rush era's most prolific, and one of the world's deepest, mines. Exhibits inside the remaining buildings illustrate how gold flakes were melted for shipment to San Francisco and how "skips" were used to lower miners and materials into the mile-long shaft and carry ore to the surface.

The old-vine Zinfandels of this winery named for the bricks used to construct Lodi buildings of days past score well in competitions for their smooth tannins and complex flavors. Like the Cabernet Sauvignon, they're reasonably priced considering the quality. Lighter offerings include sparkling wines, Albariño, and the Vorgänger white blend. If the weather's good, taste outside and enjoy garden and vineyard views. Request a Reserve Flight ($20) to sample top-of-the-line reds.

Pivotal accomplishments in engineering history occurred at the nation's last functioning water-powered foundry and machine shop, established in 1873 and these days run by volunteers. Namesake Samuel Knight's innovations included a revolutionary system for casting iron and the one-piece Knight Water Wheel for generating power. You can tour on the second Saturday of the month or on workdays (usually Wednesday). Plaques and outdoor exhibits accessible at all hours convey some of this facility's fascinating story.

A stone building dating from 1859 houses this boutique winery's tasting room, which also sells artisanal cheeses and lavender products. Lavender Ridge's longtime owner-winemaker uses traditional French methods to craft wines from organically farmed Rhône grapes. The lineup includes Viognier, Roussanne, and Grenache Blanc whites, a Grenache rosé, and Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre reds, alone and in a blend.

Nearly 2,600 feet up in the Sierra Foothills, this homey winery at the end of a long gravel road is known for Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel. The lineup also includes whites, a rosé, a sparkler, and a Port-style red. After a tasting, you can walk up the hill to see how apt the estate View Forever Vineyard's name is. Bring a picnic if you'd like.

Lighthearted, well-informed guides lead 45-minute tours (208 steps down, 232 steps up) into caverns a prospector named Walter J. Mercer discovered in 1885. Millions of years in the making, the sheer, draperylike formations and aragonite crystals that resemble snowflakes are enthralling. Dress in layers (even in summer) and wear nonskid closed-toe shoes for this mildly strenuous adventure.

Colorful tanks emblazoned with the flagship Freakshow Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Petit (Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot) label art stand tall amid a sea of other vessels on this high-production winery's open-air back lot. Sip these wines and other intentionally accessible whites, rosés, and reds at the combination café, tasting room, and farm stand, where fifth-generation farmers turned winery owners Michael and David Philips also sell their family's produce.

This 258-acre, oak-shaded park has a Japanese tea garden, picnic tables, children's play areas, an agricultural museum, a zoo, a golf course, and a water-play feature. Fun Town at Micke Grove, a family-oriented amusement park, is geared toward younger children.

Volunteers converted a parking lot into a compact open-air tribute to the area's mining legacy. Signs along the path describe 19th-century mining operations and the equipment on display used to extract or process ore.

The area's oldest operating winery, established in 1980, pours its wines, many from Sierra Foothills grapes, in a tasting room whose back patio perches over the wine-making facility. Chardonnay is a best seller, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Rhône and Italian reds among the other specialties.

Inside a former powerhouse, the museum displays a 32-foot-high Pelton Water Wheel said to be the largest ever built. The wheel, used to power mining operations, was a forerunner of modern turbines that generate hydroelectricity. Other exhibits document life in the mines and the environmental effects mining had on the area. You can picnic nearby.

A jumble of historic attractions and bonafide tourist traps—the Sacramento History Museum and the superb California State Railroad Museum representing the former and a Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, and salt-water taffy and T-shirt concessions the latter—occupies several square blocks of the Sacramento River's eastern banks a quarter-mile west of the Capitol. Shining bright metallic gold, the Tower Bridge, designed in the art-deco Streamline Moderne style and completed in 1935, anchors the waterfront's southern flank.

A former beet-sugar refinery a 15-minute drive south of downtown in Clarksburg now houses the tasting rooms of 14 Northern California wineries. The Clarksburg AVA (American Viticultural Area), which straddles Sacramento, Yolo, and Solano counties, is known for Chenin Blanc and Petite Sirah, though all the wineries also purchase grapes elsewhere. Clarksburg Wine Company, which owns the on-site wine-making facility, is a worthy first stop. Draconis Wines and Three Wine Company also merit investigation, with Bump City, co-owned by the Oakland-based Tower of Power's keyboard player, Roger Smith, another popular stop.

Visible from the highway, Auburn's standout structure is the Placer County Courthouse. The classic bronze-domed building houses the Placer County Museum, which documents the area's history—Native American, railroad, agricultural, and mining—from the early 1700s to 1900. Look for the gold nuggets valued at more than $338,000 today, and don't miss the women's cell under the Maple Street staircase.  Ask about other nearby county-run history museums.

History buffs and ghost hunters love poking around this fantastically creepy, 156-room, Romanesque Revival structure erected in 1894 to house troubled youth. Having fallen into disrepair, the building is slowly undergoing restoration. On tours, which take place on many Saturdays between April and August, you'll hear all sorts of spine-tingling tales.

Famous for its Napa Valley Chardonnays, Rombauer farmed foothills Zinfandel for years, so it wasn't a total surprise when the winery acquired an existing facility here. Inside the brightly lit tasting room or at umbrella-shaded tables, you can enjoy a flight that might include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sierra Foothills Zinfandel or sip these wines by the glass or bottle.

A pandemic-era video campaign revolving around this museum's antique printing presses went viral, making a TikTok star out of a longtime volunteer named Howard. Other exhibits investigate Sacramento's gold-rush past and agricultural, economic, and political evolution. A must-see third-floor stop provides insights into the life of a 12-year-old girl through personal belongings discovered in a trunk a century after her death in 1879. The museum's Old Sacramento Underground Tours, booked separately, explore vestiges of the city before floods wreaked havoc in the 1860s and 1870s and many buildings were raised a story or two higher.