Hay rides provide plenty of entertainment for children at High Hill Ranch. A guide sits atop the wagon describing the apple picking process. Forty-five miles east and up along the gradual climb of U.S. Highway 50, the scenery changes quickly. Turning leaves blanket the hills in a watercolor blur of burgundy and gold.
Traffic lights slow highway drivers to a crawl and passengers open their windows.
The crisp air tickles the nose. Narrow side roads snaking off the highway and into the hills tickle the imagination. There's more than gold in them thar' hills, you know. Many Californians, from Redding to Los Angeles, do know. Today, the foothill's mother lode lies not in Coloma, but in Apple Hill, visited every autumn by 250,000-plus people.