Calaveras Heritage Council

Following the discovery of gold in 1848, hordes of eager argonauts swept into the Mother Lode.

Flowers Ranch, encompassing more than 3,000 acres southwest of Copperopolis in Calaveras County, was pieced together from more than 24 separate land patents, mostly granted during the 1870s and 1880s.

“A more beautiful, as well as favorable location for a village could not have been selected…From the outset it was the intention…to make Valley Springs a desirable point of resort

Since the Gold Rush, Valley Springs has been Calaveras County’s Gateway to the Mother Lode.

EMIGRANT ROAD/BIG TREE AND CARSON VALLEY TURNPIKE/ALPINE HIGHWAY

INTRO TO ROADS AND TRAILS

The earliest routes into the gold regions followed long-established Indian trails.