El Dorado County Museum Tours
The El Dorado County Museum now offers free guided tours by reservation Wednesdays – Fridays from 12 – 3 pm. Learn about El Dorado County’s rich history through exhibits, tours, artifacts, and displays. Find available tour reservation dates here.
You’ll find exhibits ranging from Native American tools to mining equipment and wagons from the Gold Rush period.
Walking Tours of Historic Main Street
The El Dorado County Historical Society is conducting guided tours of Historic Main Street by reservation. Groups can schedule a tour by contacting (530) 626-0773 Wednesday through Sunday between 11 am and 4 pm. Tours can be booked for any day or time, and you will be contacted to confirm your tour date/time prior to your tour occurring.
The tour usually begins at the Fountain & Tallman Museum, 524 Main Street, and lasts about 60 to 90 minutes. The tour guides are dressed in period costumes and describe historic locations on Main Street between Cedar Ravine and Sacramento Street. Although the tour is free, donations to the Fountain & Tallman Museum are encouraged at a suggested rate of $2 per adult or $5 per family.
Ranch Tours
Alpacas of Somerset: Join them for an educational tour of the ranch and fiber studio. You will be offered an opportunity to mingle with members of the alpaca herd, get your hands into the luscious fiber, and learn how the fiber is processed…from start to finish! Open to individuals, groups, or home schools.
Haunted Hangtown Ghost Tours
Our ghost walks will give you a vivid history of haunted, historic Placerville a.k.a “old Hangtown”. We will share with you, through extensive research, the history as well as the haunted myths, lore, and legends. Oh, but our ghost hunts?
We will engage with our visitors in a real paranormal investigation using some of the latest equipment. What are we looking for? With your help, we will search for the fantastic, not the fantasy.
You see, the paranormal evidence that we will gather has a history. The spirits that live throughout the Gold Country, the Mother Lode and beyond have a grand history. We want to hear and tell the stories of days long gone by and learn of the people who lived them. Those people have names. They have stories. Our mission is to seek, not only paranormal evidence, but to find the stories and document them. Book your Haunted Hangtown Ghost Tour today!
Winery Tours
Miraflores Winery Tours
Miraflores Winery is honored to have been voted the region’s best winery, and to have received numerous awards from Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more. So how is it that they’re able to make such prestigious wines? Sign up for one of their tours to learn all about what goes into making their award-winning wines.
Tours are currently available Tuesday-Friday, and can accommodate up to 8 people. Please note that you will be charged upon reserving the tour, but may cancel for a refund up to 24 hours prior to the tour. Each tour comes with light snacks. Custom tours are available, and all tours are also available in Spanish. Email Miraflores to reserve your tour!
Boeger Winery Tour
Boeger Winery is one of the most historic and enchanting wineries in the Sierra Foothills. Located on a gold rush era homestead- you will learn about the winery’s early days, prohibition, 1970’s revival, and contemporary winemaking story. Tour includes a sip-n-stroll walking tour of the historical grounds, vineyard visit, winery tour, and a private seated tasting of seasonal wines. Limited to 10 people. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, $35 ($28 club).
Starfield Winery Estate Vineyard Tour
Immerse yourself among the vines as you tour Starfield Winery’s vineyards in their super-comfy UTV all-terrain vehicle (a.k.a. Wine-mobile). This one-of-a-kind tour allows you to get deep into the vineyards in pure comfort!
Sit back and relax while you enjoy the panoramic views, lush vineyards, and award-winning wines on an authentic wine safari! This intimate 90-minute experience leads you through 31 acres of Starfield’s Estate Vineyard while your personal Winery Host discusses their unique terroir, an array of varietals, grape-growing techniques, and the importance of micro-climates, and everything that comes together to make their wines.
Wine Butler Wine Tours
Experience all that El Dorado County’s wine country has to offer. Exclusive intimate wine tours curated to your taste and budget. Let us create a day of fun, beauty and luxury for you as you explore the wonderful wineries of Camino and Fair Play. We cater to wine enthusiasts as well as those interested in expanding their knowledge of what our local wine experts have to offer. Owned and operated by residents of El Dorado County.
Dry Diggins Distillery Tours
Learn, explore, and taste at El Dorado County’s first (legal) distillery. Dry Diggings Distillery offers two tours; Show, Taste, Tell, where you’ll learn the answers to burning questions like what makes vodka and what is gin, anyway? and the Distiller’s VIP Tour, a unique, two-hour tour that dives deep into the history of the industry, explains the legal environment of a distilled spirits producer (including definitions of terms), along with their production process and equipment.
Gold Discovery Tours
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is pleased to offer visitors guided walking tours! The Gold Discovery Tour tells the story and visits the sites of the Coloma Valley before the discovery of gold by James Marshall. Learn about the events leading up to the discovery, the history of the California Gold Rush, and the town of Coloma.
Tours are offered at least twice a day, 11 am and 1 pm, weather permitting. The tour cost is $3.00 per adult and $2.00 per child. There are no tours on event days including Coloma Gold Rush Live and Christmas in Coloma. Visitors are encouraged to come enjoy those events!
Ruth’s Dolls & Memories Museum
This is NOT a creepy Doll Museum as some might imagine. This is an unbelievable collection of more than 4,000 dolls and collectibles. There is a room just for the guys with steins, vintage radios, superheroes, and such. No matter what generation you call your own, this collection will send you on a lovely trip down memory lane. Guided tours of this amazing collection are available for the suggested donation of $5 per person. To book a tour contact Marlene Ruth at 530-919-3819.