Placerville & Apple Hill
El Dorado foothills · near Placerville · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Spring & fall (fall is harvest/Apple Hill season)
What is here
- Terrain
- foothills
- Amenities
- Historic Placerville ('Hangtown') · Apple Hill orchards & wineries · Rolling foothill backroads · Farm-stand & tasting stops
- Best for
- Relaxed foothill riding with orchard & winery stops
- Features
- Orchard-and-vineyard foothill lanes · Historic Placerville base · Apple Hill farm stands · Approachable, scenic riding
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Summer heat · Some car traffic on connectors · Rolling steep pitches · Limited signage on backroads
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- day-gravel
- Surface
- mixed
- Remoteness
- 2
- Riding
- Rolling paved-and-dirt lanes through orchards, vineyards, and oak foothills around historic 'Hangtown' — approachable riding with farm-stand and winery stops
- Terrain note
- 1,500–3,000 ft rolling foothills; mixed farm roads; hot midsummer
- Camping
- No
- Intl tip
- Historic Placerville ('Hangtown') anchors mellow foothill riding through the orchards and vineyards of Apple Hill. Rolling paved-and-dirt farm lanes with cider, pie, wine, and tasting-room stops — approachable and scenic (good for newer riders). Best in fall (Apple Hill harvest) or spring. Hot summers (ride early); punchy rolling pitches. A relaxed, sensory Gold Country day between Sacramento and Tahoe.
- Trip lengths
- day
The guide
Placerville — the old Gold Rush town once bluntly nicknamed 'Hangtown' — anchors a mellow, delightful pocket of Gold Country ri…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Placerville & Apple Hill — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.73, -120.8