Discover ... the Best of Lodi, the Delta and the Mother Lode

Fun in them there hills

Excitement and history await the adventurous spirit in the nearby Mother Lode

The small towns scattered among the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Lodi comprise an area known as the Mother Lode, in reference to the region's mining history.

Visitors to the Mother Lode can find a healthy dose of history mixed with quaintness, and locals with a pioneering, independent spirit. The area is an interesting mix of rustic and refined with wine tasting and gold panning seemingly offered at most tourist destinations.

Murphys

Visitors can launch a foray into the Mother Lode from Murphys, a small town of 2,000 residents in a scenic mountain setting that has earned it the nickname "Queen of the Sierra."

Boasting a rural sophistication all its own, Murphys has a bustling main drag that's often filled with tourists during the summer who visit the town's art galleries and fine eateries.

The Murphys Historic Hotel and Lodge offers accommodations and fine dining, and its saloon is reported to be one of the liveliest spots in town during the weekends.

A few minutes from the heart of Murphys, Ironstone Vineyards offers a premier destination winery boasting a delicatessen and a museum on the region's mining history.

The museum is home to a 44-pound chunk of crystalline gold leaf, which looks like a gold nugget out of a delirious miner's most fantastic dreams. Formed when gold is sandwiched between other minerals, crystalline gold is one of the rarer types of the precious metal.

Ironstone also features a summer schedule of concerts that often draws notable acts to perform in an outdoor amphitheater.

Nearby, one can also find Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Located on Highway 4, the park features a grove of giant sequoias and a five-mile hiking trail that takes visitors through a magnificent stand of trees.

Caverns

While the beauty of the Mother Lode is readily apparent to hikers, bikers and those driving, the area is also home to scenery for those who travel far below the surface the earth.

Tours of the area's many caverns include well-lit routes that any visitor can amble along taking in the subterranean sights. For the more daring, advanced tours take visitors down rappel lines, through narrow rock passageways and even on rafts over submerged lakes.

Visit http://www.caverntours.com for more information on visiting one of the Mother Lode's many caverns.

Amador County

Fast becoming another premier wine region, Amador County is home to more than 40 wineries nestled among the beautiful hills of this mining country.

The casual, rural charm found throughout the Mother Lode extends into the tasting rooms of Amador County and both the accomplished enophile or the newbie sipper.

Bisected by Highway 88, Amador County includes the charming towns of Ione near its western boundary as well as Jackson, Plymouth and Fiddle Creek near its center.

In addition to wine tasting, the county also offers casino action at the Jackson Rancheria as well as a full slew of outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, bicycling and downhill and cross country skiing in the winter.

Columbia

A town that proudly proclaims itself to be "frozen in the 1800s," Columbia is a living display of the state and the region's mining history.

Visitors to the small town, located three miles north of Sonora off Highway 49, will find a well-preserved historic district that comes alive with people acting and dressing as if it's just another day in 1855. Highlights include stagecoach rides and panning for gold.