The Goat Brew...A Trip Through The Gold Country of Placer County

Sacramento is not only the capital of California, it's also a great hub for exploring the northern half of the state. It's a pretty, tree-shaded city that is...for now...a less hectic and cheaper alternative to staying in the San Francisco area.

Although there is a lot to see and do in the city itself, one thing we like to do is use it as a base to explore nearby.  Within a couple of hours, you can get to San Francisco, Napa Valley, the Delta Region, Lake Tahoe, Chico, the Motherlode region, and much more.

Today, we're venturing northeast of the city to visit with some friendly and hungry goats and, via a scenic drive, to the county seat of Placer County - the vibrant and historic Gold Rush era town of Auburn - before ending up at an electrifying bit of history in Folsom.

Going east of Sacramento, on Interstate 80, you pass through a great urban sprawl. Getting off in Roseville, we head north to the town of Lincoln. Even here, you see development on an unrelenting march to tame the rural stretches into suburbia...the Capitol area is one of the fastest growing in the nation.

We're able to get past that to Wise Road, about 3 miles north of central Lincoln. A couple of more miles east and we're at our first destination...Goathouse Brewing.

My wife, Letty, looking for things to do in Northern California found this gem. It combines two things I love, beer and goats.

The brewery here makes excellent beer (I especially like the red ale) and, outside, you can sit in a nice beer garden which sits in a goat farm. You can buy a cone of goat food for a buck , head over, and feed the goats.

It's great fun and there's usually a food truck here if you're hungry. Goathouse Brewing is open Friday through Sunday and is completely wheelchair accessible.

Getting our fill of the goat, we continue east on Wise, winding through the hills of Placer County on our way to Auburn. Yep, we could have saved a few minutes by heading back to Interstate 80 but this is the scenic route. And very scenic it is.

A sign beckons "farm fresh fruit ahead on right." We stop in and find the ladies of Urban Dreamer farm.

Some persimmons and spaghetti squash are on sale. My wife gets some persimmons and the ladies throw in a squash. There also an array of baked goods so we take some of those for a snack later.

Onward to Auburn, the county seat of Placer County. A good spot to park where we could deploy our ramp in downtown is hard to find today but after three times around the block, we find one.

Feeling like pizza, we head over to a nearby parlor but they've just seated a party of 50 (!) so we go to the brewery next door instead for some decent burgers.

Lastly, it's a trip down through the hills to Folsom where we stop at the Folsom Powerhouse State Park.

Due west of the infamous prison on the American River, this old preserved generating station was the first AC powerhouse in California. Dating back to 1895, it provided electricity to Sacramento kicking off the electrification of the state.

We're in time for a quick tour where we're told the water powered turbines and generators are still in working order, although the water to power them no longer flows through.

Flat, paved trails provide good access throughout the small park although you can ask for the gate at the visitor's center to be opened and you can drive down the small, sloped driveway if you think it might be too steep for you.

We're fine with Tim's power chair and we climb back up to see the holding ponds for the water before climbing back in the van to head back home.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2020 - All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP - Elk, California (Mendocino Coast) 2000

Our destination tonight is the tiny village of Elk located half way between Mendocino and Point Arena.  The drive would be from Redding through Ukiah and then over the coastal mountains to Elk. Along the way we would first make a stop for the kid in Clear Lake.

What Tim wanted that day was to spend a refreshing afternoon at Outrageous Waters, a small water park. This we did and it was a lot of fun floating around the lazy river all afternoon in our inner tubes. Unfortunately for a kid in a wheelchair, that is the only attraction there he could go on. So we went around on the lazy river...and around and around and around......

Back on the road, we circled Clear Lake and I missed our exit. Soon, we were back on track and found the road over to Boonville from Ukiah. 16 miles of some of the windiest road we’ve come across. Once in Boonville, the map showed one more road over to Elk. 18 more miles of very windy road. That last 18 miles took over an hour.

While the drive is difficult, it provides a formidable barrier to keep the rest of civilization at bay from Elk. It is a beautiful isolation that’s imposed on this rugged section of coast.

The sign says the population is 250 but that may be an optimistically high number. Tim and I easily walked from one end of town to other in 5 minutes.

We stayed at the Griffin House Bed and Breakfast. Accessibility here is compromised for price. The wheelchair could get around the little cabins without too much difficulty but the big old antique clawfoot bathtubs present quite a challenge for a disabled person to get into, even with help. Even able-bodied persons such as my wife and myself had trouble with the tubs, mainly because they were...just...too...big! Once in, however, the shower head is on a hose.

There are no grab bars in the bathrooms but there is a common accessible restroom up towards the front behind the pub.

There are rooms with more accessibility in Elk but tip the scales in price. The Griffin House is among the lowest priced accommodations here, is very luxurious, has a prime cliff top location, and includes a very sumptuous breakfast delivered to your cabin each morning. The cabins themselves include two rooms so parents and kids can be separated at bedtime.

The little Bridget Dolan’s pub at the front of the inn provides the town’s sole means of night life. It’s a warm cozy place where you can wrap yourself around your favorite drink and chat with the locals, read a book or play a game. The Greenwood Pier, next door provides a nice dinner house but, maybe it was just the day we were there, there were many flies buzzing around inside.

Blackberries Ready to be Picked

At the south end of town, and accessible path provides access to the small beach at the base of the cliffs. Wild blackberries abound in the town providing instant snacks.


A half hour drive in either direction on Highway 1 will bring you to more civilized climes. North will take you to Mendocino. This New England style town hosts many boutique shops and restaurants. Our highlight here was the Mendocino Botanical Gardens a little farther north in Fort Bragg.

The gardens consists of hundreds of acres of unique microclimates and plantings. Miles of wheelchair accessible trails wind their way through the forests, creeks, and flowers ending up at the spectacular bluffs overlooking the sea.

Driving south will take you to the quaint little town of Point Arena. Here you can have a nice dinner overlooking the small century old wharf. After dinner take in a movie at Point Arena’s oustandingly restored theater. This old-style single screen theater will take you back to those great movie houses of your youth while perplexing the youngsters who can’t imagine a theater with only one screen.

No front row stadium seating worries here either. Perfect wheelchair seating locations were built in with the restoration near the center-rear of the theater.

Back in Elk, our main activity was just to relax, sit on the edge of the cliffs with a warm drink in our hand and marvel at the views. You can’t help but to just sit back and take it easy here...cell phones and pagers just won’t work on this isolated stretch of coast.

In short, if you’re just worn out from civilization or just really, really want to get away from it all without traveling halfway around the world, the natural beauty and isolation of this part of the Northern California coast may be just the ticket.

© 2000 Darryl Musick