If you have ever thought about time travel, you could experience, almost for real, in Sonora, California. You don’t need a special time travel device for it, you just need a car and this itinerary for your road trip. And I guarantee you will be stunned and amazed about the things you can do in Sonora!
Sonora is a small charming town less than 3 hours drive from San Francisco Bay Area. You can visit it for a weekend getaway or for an entire week and you will have enough cool and unique things to do. Also check out special historic events that take place in and around town during the year, especially in the historic parks mentioned below. They are truly one of a kind!
THINGS TO DO IN SONORA, CALIFORNIA
Things to Do in Sonora, California: #1 Gold Panning
Let’s face it, California gold rush created the town of Sonora. Sonora became synonymous with gold digging and guess what? Not all of the gold has been extracted from the area. You could still find some in local rivers in Sonora area. I am not promising you a fortune but it will be a super fun experience with kids.
We did our guided gold panning adventure in Sonora area with California Gold Panning. Time spent: 2 hours. Best time to experience: Spring, after the snowmelt.
This was our kids’ most favorite thing to do in Sonora, California.
Things to Do in Sonora, California: #2 Columbia State Historic Park
Columbia State Historic Park is what gold rush town used to look like. Welcome, you are walking down the history lane. You can see how a town in this area looked like with shops, a bank, a diner, local artisans (candle maker and blacksmith, for instance), a coach stop and a gold mine.
Everybody is wearing historic clothes, no cars allowed along the street and the only means of transportation is a coach – hop in and take a ride!!
If this is not time travel, I don’t know what is! In all honesty this was my personal most favorite thing to do in Sonora.
Things to Do in Sonora, California: #3 Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
A short drive from Sonora there is a great historic park that will be perfect for train fans and also “Back to the Future” movie fans.
At this historic park you can see vintage locomotives and other interesting historic machinery. But the cherry on top is Engine Number 3, which starred in many Hollywood movies, including “Back to the Future”. If there is a guided tour available of the park – take it, you will not regret it!
You can also take a narrated train ride on a historic train and if you are visiting in Spring after a wet winter you will see lots of wildflowers in bloom along the train ride. Your are literally taking a ride to the past and then back to the future again! (is this too corny? :-))
Things to Do in Sonora, California: #4 Visit New Melones Lake
When in Sonora, don’t hesitate to take a short drive to New Melones Lake. In Spring it is an amazing place to see wildflowers, lupins being predominant. In Summer New Melones Lake is a perfect sport for swimming and splashing around. And any time of the year you can use New Melones Lake recreation areas for fishing, hiking, kayaking and boating.
Pack a picnic lunch with you and plan to spend a few hours at New Melones Lake. Please, make sure to leave no trace and do not walk ON the flowers.
Things to Do in Sonora, California: #5 Enjoy Red Hills Recreation Area
If you are visiting Sonora in Spring after a good, wet winter then you must drive to see Red Hills Recreation Area famous for its wildflowers. There is a creek running though it and there are many flowers growing along the banks. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place, please, keep it that way and also don’t walk on flowers!
Things to Do in Sonora, California: #6 Indigeny Reserve
It is hard to find words to describe Indigeny Reserve experience, except for it is unique. At the heart of it all is a craft hard cider producer where you can do cider tasting. The place has a big area outdoors with old machinery exhibits, picnic grounds, apple orchard, a hiking trail that takes you to a gnome village, an old mine…
I mean this place BEGS for exploration! Plan for a leisurely afternoon here, relax, enjoy, have a delicious drink and, of course, explore.
Also check Events page on their website – there are some awesome yearly events happening almost every month.
Things to Do in Sonora, California: #7 Walk the streets of Sonora’s historic downtown
Downtown Sonora is charming, historic and walkable. You can find here lots of cool small shops, restaurants, cafes and historic buildings.
Our favorite places to eat in and around Sonora:
Breakfast: Mandy’s Breakfast House – the best breakfast ever, hands down. And the portions are so huge you will have leftovers for picnic lunch.
Lunch: Taqueria Sonora – no frills place with delicious relatively inexpensive food if you like Mexican flavors. Also open for dinner.
Dinner: Emberz Wood-Fired Foods – finger licking good. A bit expensive but totally worth it.
Where to stay in Sonora, California
For this trip we decided to stay at an AirBnB. Sure, there are hotels in and around Sonora but staying in a charming historic house seemed like a better option for the completeness of the historic experience. There lots of rentals in town, very reasonably priced and many are walking distance from the main street where you can easily grab your meals.
Best time to visit Sonora, California
We felt like the best time to visit Sonora is in Spring because this way you have high chances to find gold and wildflowers. Summer will be a little bit too hot for me but check the weather forecast, there may be reasonable days in summer too.
A special mention about December, which may be a good time to visit too: Sonora will be decorated for the holidays, some locations will have special events (Railtown, Indigeny Reserve, Columbia State Historic Park). So if you are into vintage Christmas, Sonora is definitely worth stopping by for a weekend. You could also do some awesome holiday shopping in town too!
Conclusion
We hope you find this guide to best things to do in Sonora, California useful. It is a great family friendly town, perfect for a road trip from San Francisco Bay Area. It is also a short drive from anywhere in Central California.
If you enjoyed this itinerary, please, share with others as it may help them in their trip planning too.
