8 Best Things To Do In Sonora, California

Best things to do in Sonora, California:

1. Columbia State Historic Park

Tuolumne County is known for having a few historic Gold Rush towns, and the Columbia State Historic Park is one of the best preserved. If you’re planning a trip to Sonora, stopping by the Columbia State Historic Park is a must!

Columbia State Historic Park is a living town that operates like any other city. Here you can find restaurants, bars, gift shops, museums, hotels, and other businesses that a typical town would have. What makes it unique is that all the buildings here are preserved in their original state from the 1850s.

Columbia State Historic Park has a Main Street that travels through the city with businesses lined up on both sides of it.

This Main Street is closed to car traffic so visitors can enjoy a stroll down the street and check out local businesses safely.

Some of the most popular attractions at the Columbia State Historic Park include a blacksmith shop, an old firehouse, saloons, the candy store, and old mining companies.

You can learn more about this town’s history during the free hour-long town tour that takes place on the weekends at 11:00 am.

• Location: Columbia State Historic Park
• Hours: Business hours are from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
• Cost: Free to visit and walk around

Read Next: 12 Best Ghost Towns To Visit In California

2. Dragoon Gulch Trail

Dragoon Gulch Trail is a wonderful day hike just a few minutes’ drive from downtown Sonora. This trail is perfect for those who want to spend an hour or two hiking outdoors without having to venture too far away from Sonora.

The Dragoon Gulch Trails start on a hill west of Sonora’s downtown. Multiple trails span from this trailhead and extend to around 3 miles in length.

The main trail leads up to a viewpoint of Sonora’s downtown in the distance and travels through beautiful California oak woodlands and manzanita trees.

Dragoon Gulch Trail is very easy to hike with slight elevation gain and gentle switchbacks. All of the trails at Dragoon Gulch are very family and kid-friendly.

Dogs are also welcome to use these trails. There are some trash cans along the hike for cleanup.  

• Location: Dragoon Gulch Trail Head
• Cost: Free

3. Indigeny Reserve

One of the biggest attractions in this area is the Indigeny Reserve, a beautiful apple orchard 10 minutes east of Sonora.

Indigeny Reserve is located on a beautiful 160-acre apple orchard surrounded by hills and a lush forest. This distillery makes a few different ciders, citrus-infused liquors, and even apple brandy.

We stopped by Indigeny Reserve in the afternoon after hiking and tried a few of their best sellers available at the tasting room.

All of the samples at the Indigeny Reserve tasting bar are free to try. We sampled their mainstream ciders like Extra Crisp and Blackberry, but our favorite was the limited edition Organic Harvest Blend made of 52 different apple types grown at this orchard.

The Organic Harvest Blend was crisp, not too sweet, and very refreshing. We ended up ordering a pint of this cider, after which one of the bartenders took us on a quick tour of their facilities.

On a sunny day, you can also hang out on their charming outdoor patio situated next to the apple orchards. During our trip, it was raining outside, so we stayed inside at the tasting bar.

• Location: Indigeny Reserve
• Cost: Free to visit their tasting room
• Hours: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

4. Sonora Tap Room

Tuolumne County has a pretty amazing craft drink scene. In this region, visitors can enjoy sipping drinks at local wineries, breweries, and cider distilleries. On our trip, we stopped by the Sonora Tap Room to try a few local favorites.

Sonora Tap Room is located in a historic red brick building in downtown Sonora. Although the space inside is pretty small and gets packed, especially on weekend nights, we did find a cozy spot by the bar to sit down.

Besides the occasional food truck, this tap room does not serve any food. Thankfully, this means that our dog was also allowed inside, which was a welcoming break from having to always sit on the patio.

Sonora’s Tap Room drink menu is constantly rotating and includes a variety of locally crafted beers, ciders, and wines. Along with 20 beverages on draft, Sonora’s Tap Room has a fridge fully stocked with additional drink choices that you can order to-go.

Location: Sonora Tap Room

Hours: The hours vary day by day:

• Monday – 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm
• Tuesday – 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm
• Wednesday – 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm
• Thursday – 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm
• Friday – 12:00 pm to 11:00 pm
• Saturday – 12:00 pm to 11:00 pm
• Sunday – 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm

5. Moaning Caverns Adventure Park

If you’re looking for something a bit different to do in the area, Moaning Caverns is the largest single cave chamber in California, and it’s just 20 minutes north of Sonora.

Although this cavern is not located in Sonora itself, it is one of the biggest attractions around, so it’s well worth the drive from Sonora to visit it.  

To enter and explore Moaning Caverns, you will need to go on a guided tour. The tours are organized by Moaning Caverns Adventure Park, and you can take either the Spiral Tour or the Expedition Tour.

The Spiral Tour is a basic walking tour inside these caves. Along with a guide, you will climb 165 feet underground through small staircases built into the cave. The tours take place every day at the start of every hour from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

This tour lasts for 45 minutes and costs $24 per person. The Spiral Tour is the most popular tour option at Moaning Caverns. I recommend booking your spot online in advance for a small fee (which is what we did).

The Expedition Tour is the more advanced and adventurous tour of the two. For $130, a guide will take you rappelling and crawling through tiny cave openings inside the Moaning Caverns.

This tour is 3 hours long and is based on advanced reservations only – so call or sign up at least 48 hours ahead of time if this interests you.

• Location: Moaning Caverns Adventure Park
• Hours: Spiral tours leave between 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
• Spiral Tour Cost: $24 for adults, $18 for kids (ages 3-11), kids under 3 are free
• Expedition Tour Cost: $130 per person. The minimum age requirement for this tour is 12 years old.

Read More: Moaning Caverns: Largest Underground Cave In California

6. New Melones Lake

Covering over 12,500 acres, New Melones Lake is one of the largest reservoirs in California. With lush green landscape and rust colored sand, New Melones Lake is very scenic and provides many recreational activities, especially in the summer.

Due to this lake’s high banks and lack of roads, the lake can only be accessed from designated recreational areas – Glory Hole or Tuttletown.

We were looking for a place to go for a hike, so we stopped by the Tuttletown Recreation Area. Tuttletown access point is also popular for boating, fishing, camping, and other outdoor activities.

The road leading into Tuttletown Recreation Area was paved and well-maintained. This park was very clean with plenty of parking, visitor restrooms, and picnic tables.

It is free to visit Tuttletown Recreation Area for the day. If you plan to camp overnight, the campsites at Tuttletown Recreation Area cost around $22 per night.  

We parked our car at one of the designated day parking lots and hiked on the trails that weave along the lakefront. The scenery here was very beautiful with lots of trees, green grass, and wildflowers.

• Location: Tuttletown Recreation Area
• Cost: Free to visit for the day

7. Angels Camp RV Cabins

During our visit to Sonora, we stayed at the Angels Camp RV Resort. We wanted to bring our dog with us on this trip, which usually limits our hotel choices.

Angels Camp RV Park is very dog-friendly, and they have charming wooden cabins that we wanted to check out. Angels Park combines the best of camping while also offering some luxuries like a bed and a hot shower at the end of the day.

For our stay, we booked one of their smaller cabins that sleeps up to 4 people, but they have a couple of bigger cabins as well.

Their smaller cabins come with a full-size bed and a bunk bed, which was perfect for us since there are only two of us (plus our dog).

Each cabin has its own personal parking spot, a patio with chairs, a picnic-style table, and a grill that can also be used as a fire pit.

This property has a lot of great amenities, including a pool, community cooking area, two dog parks, a kids’ playground, a volleyball net, a basketball court, and more.

• Location: Angels Camp RV & Camping Resort
• Cost: We paid $170 for a 2-night stay

Read More: Angels Camp RV Park: Camping In Rustic Cabins

8. Calaveras Big Trees State Park

If you’re looking to get out in nature and visit enormous sequoia trees, the Calaveras Big Trees State Park is located just an hour’s drive north of Sonora. Here you can explore gorgeous trails and visit some of the largest and oldest trees in California that are 1000 to 3000 years old!

There are two sequoia groves that can be accessed at this park – the North Grove and South Grove. Most visitors hike the Calaveras North Grove Trail, which can be reached from the visitor center. This loop is only 1.6 miles long, flat, and passes some of the largest trees in the park.  

Read Next: 12 Best Places To Visit Sequoia Trees In California

I hope this post has helped you discover a few amazing things to do on your trip to Sonora, California!

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This post is written by Laura. Hi, I’m a California local and the founder of the California Wanderland travel blog. I currently live in Ventura County and help 50,000 readers a month discover things to do in Central California! Read more about me here.

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