Graeagle CA

Oftentimes life forces us to travel areas we've been to before, but we do try to make our nightly stops in new places. As we leave Grass Valley, we're on a trip to pick-up my mom in Southern California. To stick to cooler areas and see new places, we're headed back up the Sierras.

Our first stop is Clio's Rivers Edge RV Park in Clio/Graeagle, about a 2 hour drive northeast of Grass Valley.  Our first impression of the area is wonderful. Clio has a population of less than 100 people; Graeagle has around 800. The area sits at just around 4,400 feet in altitude. The drive up is through rolling meadows and mountain valleys with little traffic, very relaxing.

Clio's Rivers Edge has a state park feel because of the trees and spaciousness, but it has full hook-ups and all the amenities.

   
We go to Ricochet Cafe, the only restaurant in town, for dinner. It's actually a food "truck" attached to the Blackbird Inn. They pass the food from the truck window into a window of the inn. We meet a couple there who tell us what a great area this is for mountain biking and hiking and that we should explore Mills Peak.

Another nice little find was the Frazer Falls trail. It's a short, paved 1.1 mile (round trip) trail with some really pretty scenery.

We also visit the Kentucky Mine Museum and take a tour to learn how a stamp mill crushed rock to extract gold.

On our way back we stop at Sardine Lake and wander around for awhile.

Another interesting place to visit is the Mills Peak Lookout, a manned fire lookout. The drive up to it is quite rough and not heavily trafficked, so I can understand why it's a popular mountain bike location.

We like the area, but can't get any additional nights at Clio's, so we move a few miles down the road to Little Bear RV Park in Blairsden. It's a very pretty setting also, but the sites are so tight, I'm still not sure how Tom got the RV into it.