Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sleeping & Eating
If you're looking for a basic hotel and don't mind the blandness of a highway motel,
Auburn is a better bet. The food options around these parts pleasantly over-deliver.
American River Resort
CAMPGROUND, CABINS
( 530-622-6700;
www.americanriverresort.com
;
6019 New River Rd; tent & RV sites $35-55, cabins
$180-280; )
Only a quarter mile off Hwy 49, just south of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic
Park, this site is more built-up than other area campgrounds: there's a small convenience
store, free wi-fi, a playground, fishing pond and pool. The sites are basic, but some are
right on the river. The most spacious and pretty oak-shaded sites are 14 to 29.
Coloma Club Cafe & Saloon
BAR & GRILL
(
530-626-6390;
colomaclub.com
; 7171 Hwy 49, Coloma; mains from $9;
restaurant
6:30am-9pm, bar 10am-2am)
The patio at this rowdy old saloon comes alive with guides and river rats when the water is
high.
Cafe Mahjaic
AMERICAN, GREEK
(Lotus Inn;
530-622-9587;
www.cafemahjaic.com
;
1006 Lotus Rd, Lotus;
from 5pm Wed-Sun;
)
House-baked breads and organic meats with a sense a humor: the sophisticated menu in-
cludes a Moody Soup (which changes per chef's daily whims). The four-course prix fixe
for $28 is a great deal. The owners also run the three-room
Lotus Inn
(rooms $109 to
$139) tucked in the brick house behind the restaurant.
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
Compared to the stampede of gun-toting, hill-blasting, hell-raising settlers that populate
tall tales along Hwy 49, the
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
(
530-622-3470;
marshallgold.org
;
per car $8;
park 8am-5pm, to 7pm late May-early Sep, museum
