Experience Sacramento & the Gold Country

An agricultural hub and the seat of the California state government, the city of Sacramento plays an important contemporary role. About 2 million people live in the metropolitan area, and the continuing influx of newcomers seeking opportunity, sunshine, and lower housing costs than in coastal California has made it one of the nation's fastest-growing regions. The surrounding Gold Country -- named for the mining towns that sprang up during the Gold Rush years of the 1850s -- is one of California's least expensive destinations, a region of the Sierra Nevada foothills that is filled with natural and cultural pleasures.