Late October we headed to the Gold Country in the Sierra Foothills to visit Apple Hill during the annual apple harvest. We stayed close to Placerville at the KOA. It has a nice park with a very rural feel to it.
Lucy loved the walks, as she could encounter goats, geese, and horses along the way. She was really intrigued by the different animals and wasn’t sure what she should do.
Apple Hill is the largest concentration of apple farms in California, and there are over 50 different farms you can visit during your stay.
They grow practically every apple known to man, and you can enjoy them in pies, fresh cider, and even donuts!
We also visited the nearby town of Placerville, which was a booming town during the Gold Rush. It has some good coffee houses and restaurants, and is a nice way to spend an afternoon.
We had a good time at Apple Hill in the foothills, and we are looking forward to heading back to the beach next month!
Al & Deb (and Lucy)
MobileMosers.com 
I read the 4 best places in CA to view fall foliage are Yosemite, June Lake (Eastern Sierras), Julian (San Diego) and Nevada City (Grass Valley, gold rush country). Did you see great colors or brown leaves (downed by the rains)? What’s normally the best week of the year to view fall foliage in Placer and Eldorado counties? Thank you.
Hi Elltinge! My wife and I were just talking about that today. We didn’t see a lot of fall color on our trip. We were thinking that most California native plants don’t really change color and lose their leaves — think California Live Oaks and Redwoods! :-). However, the Apple trees and vineyards there should look great in the fall since they are transplants . I’m thinking the right timing would be sometime in November, since all the Apple trees still had their leaves when we were there. I bet a call to Placerville chamber of commerce would probably get you the info.
The Nevada City Chamber of Commerce said the 3rd week of October would probably be best, although heavy rains might prematurely knock down the leaves. I just fly fished Redding where they had 9 inches of rain in the past 6 days. The rivers were muddy, but the aspens were still golden. The drought In Southern California continues to decimate fall color. The leaves at the end of August are burnt, then they just drop. Not enough chlorophyll in the spring equals no color in the fall.
We were there from October 21-23, so the heavy rain may explain the lack of color. Wow, 9 inches in Redding! Hope it didn’t effect the fishing for you! We had over 3 inches here in the Wast Bay the prior week, which is a lot for us all at one time.
Oops, that’s East Bay.