Credit Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau

“America’s Most Diverse City” saw its heyday when, at the height of the California Gold Rush, it became a major distribution point, a booming commercial and agricultural center, and a terminus for wagon trains, stagecoaches, riverboats, the telegraph, the Pony Express, and the First Transcontinental Railroad. Long before the area was settled, the Nisenan and Plains Miwok tribes lived a peaceful existence beneath the sturdy oaks, their fundamental needs met by wild-harvesting the countryside rich with dietary staples, and their inadvertent gift to future settlers a legacy of careful stewardship ultimately bequeathed as little more than a faint footprint on the land that would one day become the Capitol of California. Groups of fun prospectors heading to Sacramento will appreciate its classic Mediterranean climate – the River City holds the notable distinction of being the sunniest location on Earth July through September. Sacramento is a shopper’s and foodie’s dream, a veritable bonanza of cultural diversity and “golden land” of educational opportunity. Browse the finest art museum West of the Mississippi or kick back and enjoy 28 miles of gorgeous California scenery aboard River Train; charmingly Western “Old Towns” treat travelers on Golden State excursion to an authentic taste of days gone by, and tours of the architecturally stunning Capitol building provide a wonderful cross section of the city’s rich history. The Sacramento and American Rivers promise river rats plenty to do on their grand waterways; historic Jedidiah Smith trail presents 32 stunning miles of excellent riding and hiking prospects and Sutter Gold Mine tours lead more intrepid spirits into the belly of the Earth, visiting upon them shadows of a day in the life of a wild and wooly ‘49er. The seasoned trailblazers at Exploring America are ready and waiting to map out your Sacramento trip of a lifetime; “wagons, ho!”