This weekend, September 15-16, Madera County residents can explore their mountain heritage at the 11th annual Mountain Heritage Days celebration in Oakhurst, California. A parade, Country Fair, contests and Sluice Box Derby are among the events planned. The celebration kicks off at 10 a.m. this Saturday with a parade along School Road (Road 427) and Crane Valley Road (Road 426) in Oakhurst, California.

Before the parade, stoke up on flapjacks at the Sierra Oakhurst Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast. Eggs, ham, sausage, steaming, golden stacks of pancakes, juice and coffee are on the menu. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Oakhurst Community Center Pavilion located at 39800 Road 425B. Adults meals are $5; children 12 and under, $2; and children under 5 are free.

After the parade, don’t miss the exciting Sluice Box Derby. It starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday and features three divisions for derby racers aged 4-14.

You can spend a delightful day at Mountain Heritage Days. Watch pioneer demonstrations in candle dipping and blacksmithing. Check out award-winning displays of wood carving and needlework. Shop the many arts and crafts booths at the Country Fair. Sample some good old down-home country cooking. Return to the 1850s when Fresno Flats was a booming mountain town.

The festival will be held on the grounds of the Fresno Flats Historic Park. The park is located near Oak Creek Intermediate School and Yosemite High School on School Road (Road 427). Click here for a map and driving directions. For more information, call 559-683-6570.

Join members of the Coarsegold Historical Society Saturday, September 8 for a walking tour of historic downtown Coasegold. Participants should meet at 10 a.m. at the teepee in the Historic Village located on the northwest corner of Highway 41 and Road 415 in Coarsegold, California. Wear comfortable shoes. The tour takes about an hour. Donations are appreciated. For more information, call 559-642-4448.

Coarsegold has a rich and varied history. Chukchansi Indians once inhabited not only the Coarsegold area but the entire San Joaquin Valley into the Sierra foothills. Mexican explorers and American fur trappers traded in the area in the early 1800s. In 1849 the discovery in area creeks of big, rough gold nuggets — coarse gold –brought prospectors in droves and gave the early boomtown town its name, Coarsegold. Gradually, gold became scarce and miners turned to cattle ranching which is still the area’s prime industry. The growing popularity of Yosemite National Park and the extension of a wagon road through Coarsegold in 1876 brought an increasing number of tourists through the small town.

The Coarsegold Museum contains a collection of 1800s artifacts from the town’s pioneer and gold rush days. Built at the site of a horse-drawn freight wagon road (pre-Highway 41), the museum centers around the originial 110-year old packed adobe way station. Visitors can view ongoing restoration of the structure.

A restored barn houses artifacts and a fascinating history of the Madera County region, as well as a research library and Historical Society office. Visitors can view vignettes of early Eastern Madera County life.

Hop aboard the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad for an exciting trip back in time. The railroad offers exciting 4-mile excursions aboard vintage wood-burning steam locomotives like the ones that served

Madera
County’s early logging industry. You can board the train at

Yosemite
Park’s south gate on Highway 41. 

From 1899 to 1931, miles of narrow-gauge track brought sugar pines from the high Sierras to busy lumber mills in
Madera. A section of the original railbed was faithfully constructed using turn-of-the-century techniques to serve as a historic reminder of the county’s rich logging history. Two vintage Shay steam locomotives now ply the four-mile track, giving visitors and tourists a taste of life in long ago

Madera
County. 

Click here for a copy of the 2007 schedule and fares. For more information, contact the railroad office in Fish Camp, California at 559-683-7273.

In the heart of California, at the gateway of Yosemite National Park, sits beautiful Madera County, California. Once the site of a burgeoning lumber industry, Madera (the Spanish word for lumber) was the end point for a huge flume that once ran from the lower Sierra forests to Madera’s lumber mills. An engineering marvel in its day, a replica section of the flume is on display at the Madera County Museum which is located in the granite courthouse in the town of Madera.

Fur traders and explorers were the first non-native visitors to Madera County, followed in 1859 by miners lured by California’s gold rush. Miners plied local streams and rivers for gold, silver and copper but it was lumber that put Madera County on the map. In 1874 lumber brought the railroad and a wave of immigrants to work and settle the San Joaquin Valley. The sugar pines of the Sierras moved through the mills at Madera, providing lumber for southern California’s growing cities and towns and housing for the gold rush miners who stayed to make California their home. A remnant of the original Sugarland Pine Railroad that was built to move lumber and supplies now operates mainly as a tourist attraction and historic reminder of times past. The railroad opened the valley to farming and brought a steady stream of tourists to see the beautiful Yosemite Valley.

Today Madera County’s natural beauty and reputation as a popular recreational site continue to attract visitors and new residents. A productive agricultural area, Madera County supports a strong economy and is a growing business/industrial center.

North Fork offers something for everyone this Saturday. Start the day bright and early with a hearty breakfast at the North Fork Lions Club Pancake Breakfast from 7:30-10 a.m. at the North Fork Recreation Center. 

Then stick around to check out the coolest classic cars at the 13th Annual Mountain Classic Car Show. From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 11 you’ll be able to ogle the fins and fancy grillwork at the North Fork Recreation Center. Free to the public. For more information, call 559-877-4597 or 559-887-2487.

Enjoy a delightful afternoon this Saturday, August 11, at the North Fork Community Art Gallery Sierra Art Hop. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Gallery will welcome the public with special displays of watercolor paintings, photography, jewelry, art clothing, ceramics, and gift and note cards. Well-known jewelers Ida and George Covert will demonstrate gold and silver wire-wrapped jewelry techniques. Light refreshments will be served. The gallery is located on Mammoth Pool Road 225 at the old saw mill site, 3/4 mile east of downtown North Fork, California. For more information, call 559-877-2487.