Sacramento or ? in one day

[charles_patrick1]

<p>I'm heading to a meeting in Yuba City but I have one whole day to rustle up some camera fodder the day before the meeting. I land in Sacramento Sept. 2 around 10 AM and I can head anywhere as long as I make Yuba City the next morning at 9:30 AM.<br>

Any suggestions? I love old buildings and landscapes of all kinds. Not so big on the ocean.<br>

Cheers!</p>

[John Sully]

<p>Highway 49 south of Sacto provides wonderful old building photo ops. Check out the John Marshall gold strike area. Here are two photos.</p><div></div>

[John Sully]

<p>Here is the other one...</p><div></div>

[charles_patrick1]

<p>Thanks John!. Sounds like a perfect idea.</p>

[johnw436]

<p>You can be in Lake Tahoe in about 2 hours from SAC Sacramento. One of the most gorgeous places on earth. You'll also drive through the redwood forest to get there. It is incredible.</p>

[daverave]

<p>Sorry, John, but there is not a single redwood between Sacramento and Lk Tahoe. The forest is generally mixed conifer (lodgepole, sugar pine) but no redwoods. The Marshall Gold discovery park, in Coloma, is generally east of Sacto in the foothills, not south, about an hour away. With budget cuts, they are threatening to close the park soon but the buildings will still mostly be accessible. <br>

Rather than spend four hours on the road to Tahoe and back, I'd stay closer to Sacramento, cruise the Delta roads and backroads. I'd also suggest heading for the old Chinese town of Locke in the Delta (southwest of Sacto,) plenty of well preserved historic buildings in a funky town, <strong>much closer </strong> (30 minutes.) Throughout the Sacramento Delta, there are lots of Thiebaud and Kondos-type landscapes (google them, they're painters.) The Delta has lots of levees, orchards and sloughs begging to be portrayed by your good camera. You may be able to find some birds congregating also although winter is generally lots better. <br>

Somewhat towards Yuba City, up I-5, is the town of Woodland with a bunch of nice historic houses and an interesting downtown. The same could be said of Sacramento and its midtown area (16th Street and east to the freeway at 29th.) There is also an Old Town area along the river that unfortunately is a bit tacky/kitschy but has a lot of history and a great, world-class railroad museum. I do live here by the way ;-)</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>For me I'd head up the 5 to Williams and spend the day photographing old cars at Big M or old buses at Coach Maintenance, before heading the few miles east to Yuba City for overnight. I'd ask permission first but would fully expect it to be OK</p>

<p>Perhaps unusually for someone from the UK, I've spent a few days in Yuba City and for me the quite new Hampton Inn is a decent place to stay; Marcello's a decent place to eat and Margie's Diner a good place for breakfast.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[david_henderson]

<p>Meant to mention, I have spent time in the Delta too, as suggested by Mr Edwards, though I based myself out of Lodi. It certainly is a different sort of landscape. I enjoyed it best on winter mornings in the tule fog, when the whole area takes on an eerie look. I'm not sure what I'd expect in the middle of the day at this time of year though.<br>

You might also take a look at this website</p>

<p><a href="http://www.adunnphotography.com">www.adunnphotography.com</a></p>

<p>which contains some nice photography from around the Sacramento River . Again you might find that most of the good stuff is in spring and at this time of year the landscape is much browner. </p><div></div>

[John Sully]

<p>Ah, call it southeast :). I really like Hwy 49. It has lots of cool old funky towns and tons of history. It's been a while since I lived in Northern Cali, and I had forgotten about Locke, it is pretty cool, although I have never taken a photo trip there, just cruised though. The delta is pretty damn cool in the winter when you get the tule fog, this time of year the near 100F temps tend to dampen my enthusiasm for the landscape (although the "poor man's Transpac", aka the Delta Ditch Run is pretty cool.)</p>

<p>Williams was always a town I drove through on the way to Lassen Volcanic, never though there were photographic ops there. Like the old Caddy.</p>

<p>But, skip Tahoe. It's a great place, but a long ways from Sacto.</p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>Dave/David have nailed it pretty well. Here's some more info on the Highway 49 area.</p>

<p>http://www.historichwy49.com/home.html</p>

<p>Sacramento is fairly interesting in itself. A number of civic buildings and the state capitol building and park are impressive, there are quite a few "Victorian" houses especially in the area east of the capitol. "Old Sacramento" is reminiscent of the pre-Civil War towns along the Mississippi River and the delta or roads along the rivers can be very interesting. Don't think you'll have much fog this time of year. If you go east to Placerville on I-50, you can then follow 49 north through Coloma, site of the Gold Strike to Auburn, then I'd take I-80 to Colfax and then head to Grass Valley and Nevada City. With one day, you won't have time to explore them all. Although east on I-80 to Auburn and then to Coloma could likely offer plenty of photo ops in itself.</p>

[johnw436]

<p>Those aren't redwoods? Whoops! They are some big dog-gone trees then!</p>

<p>My mistake. Those are the biggest trees I've ever seen in my life. I assumed they were redwoods. You could play a football game in the woods there, and I'm not kidding. </p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>While there is a small grove of giant sequoias between the I-50 and I-80, it's fairly remote. The easiest giant sequoias to get to from Sacramento would be in Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It's east of Stockton on Highway 4. There are a number of other notable Gold Rush area towns in the area, Angels, Jamestown, also with a railroad museum, Sonora, Columbia - with a state park, one of the early state capitals, etc. This is another area which could easily absorb several days of exploring.</p>

<p>"Angels" which one could pass through on the way to Murphys and then Arnold and the park, has been known as Angels Camp and a number of other names, and is the site of the famed Mark Twain story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”</p>

[daniel_harris]

<p>All of the above are good. If you look on a map the town is Angels Camp, not Angels. A cabin Mark Twain spent some time in is south of Angels Camp off Hiway 49. Near Murphys is California Caverns and Moaning Cave is between Vallecitos and Columbia. I should add, be prepared for very warm temps in the Gold Country.<br />John, what you saw are probably Douglas Fir.</p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>Depends on the map or mapping service used. While Angels Camp is a commonly used name, if one Google Maps the area, it doesn't use Angels Camp as the label. A "search" will work on both. Mapquest, otoh, does use Angels Camp. Which is why I used both in describing the location.</p>

[charles_patrick1]

<p>Wow! Thanks for all the great suggestions! I wish now I had booked off another 2 days. And thanks David for the hotel/restaurant tips. I haven't booked a place in Yuba City yet. I think I 50 to I 49 will be the route. This looks like a perfect trip to baptize my new 40D & 70-200 f4 IS.<br>

I'm hoping to make it back this way in the winter and head to Truckee and ski Royal Gorge.<br>

Thanks to all of you. Phot.net is such a wonderful resource!</p>

[rachiddahnoun]

<p>I would take the extra time to drive up to Lake Tahoe. As a professional photographer in Lake Tahoe my answer is slightly biased however it's the reason I make my home there. It's absolutely gorgeous and if you have never been it's a must. The drive from the Sacramento Airport will be a little over an hour and a half if you avoid traffic. I drive to and from Sac almost every week and I don't find it to be a problem.<br>

If you go - check out Emerald Bay, Cave Rock and Sand Harbor. Emerald Bay is a great sunrise location and Cave Rock and Sand Harbor make for great morning or sunset shots. Have fun!</p>

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