Between Lake Tahoe And Sacramento Is A Hidden Sierra Gateway To Charming Wineries, Local Eats, And Recreation

You don't have to visit the big-name R&R destinations to enjoy California's soaring Sierra Nevada — places like Yosemite and its endless hikes, or the adventure mecca of Mammoth. There are plenty more untrodden corners of this great mountain range still around. Simply mosey around the forest-flecked western foothills to find the town of Diamond Springs, for example. It's a pleasantly slow-paced place, with just 13,000 permanent residents, while still offering stacks of outdoor fun, taste-bud-tempting locavore food, and an enthralling past that reaches back hundreds of years.

The story of Diamond Springs is a tale as old as the Golden State itself. First it was a welcome pitstop for pioneers making their way across the mountains, then it boomed with the discovery of gold, now it lives on as a vibrant community neatly placed on the Sacramento commuter belt. Drift by to find loads of Gold Country wineries, walk-on access to some long-distance Sierra trails, and gastronomy that ranges from breweries to French fine-dining.

The location might just be perfect if you're planning your own cross-mountain jaunt, for Diamond Springs sits smack dab in between the paradise of South Lake Tahoe and the major international airport in Sacramento. 

Before you go pulling on the boots and turning your gaze to the Sierra Nevada, stop a moment to smell the wine in Diamond Springs. Fans of all things viticulture should know that this town sits under 10 minutes south of the California Gold Rush city of Placerville, which itself is very much the heart of the El Dorado County wine country.

According to Visit El Dorado, the official website of the El Dorado County Visitors Authority, the region counts a whopping 70 individual cellar doors and wine stops. They even pick out a few that are within tantalizingly close vicinity of Diamond Springs: Madroña Vineyards, some 18 minutes' drive from the downtown, where 3,000-foot-high vineyards produce over 26 grape varieties, and the Sierra Vista Vineyards, just 17 minutes' drive away, where you can taste local creations with head-on views of the Sierra Nevada rising to the east.

Hungry? From pizza to epicurean French dining, Diamond Springs has plenty to sate the appetite. To sample what a 4.8 out of 5 score on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews tastes lake, you'll want to be sure to drop into Allez! It's a Francophile bistro run by a French-Moroccan duo, serving up the likes of spicy prawns and cassoulet in the very core of Diamond Springs. For something more Californian, head around the corner to the Diamond Springs Hotel. It's been there for over 100 years, and now touts menus of hearty pancake breakfasts alongside big lunches of scampi and surf and turf.

Once you've wined and dined to your heart's content in Diamond Springs, it might be time to crank up the adventure. There are oodles of spots in and around town where you can get that fix of mountain recreation, not to mention loads of places to escape to deeper into the Sierra Nevada. Diamond Springs is a great mountain gateway as you make you way from cityscape to peaks (or lake), what with Highway 50 — a popular route to Tahoe — heading off in one direction, and California's iconic Highway 49 connecting Gold Country towns in the other.

Perhaps most notably, a section of the ever-expanding El Dorado Trail system skirts the north side of town, where there's even a dedicated parking spot for easy access. The bit going east and north from Diamond Springs is actually a multi-use paved path, great for cycling as well as hiking. For a lot of the way, it follows the route of an historic railroad, but also drifts in and out of thick oak and pine woods as it drops through the foothills.

Under 20 minutes' in the car heading north will bring you to Coloma, a charming place that's been hailed as California's best river town. Expect oodles of whitewater rafting outfitters there, opening up exhilarating rides down the South Fork of the American River. Go eastwards along Highway 50 and it's basically trailhead after trailhead all the way to Lake Tahoe. You can get onto the challenging 6.5-miler to the top of Ralston Peak on the north side of the highway, or branch off at the unsung mountainous playground of Pollock Pines to reach the easy Cedar Park Trail through the forests.