Camino, CA

Camino sits on US 50 about halfway between the Sacramento Valley and South Lake Tahoe, right where the foothills turn into mountains. The name means path in Spanish, and logging built the settlement, with a lumber company running a cable tramway and a railway down to Placerville. That past explains the scattered layout, a string of roads and properties more than a downtown. Apple Hill is the reason most visitors come. It grew out of a pear blight in the 1960s, when local growers looked for another crop, and the Apple Hill Growers formed in 1964 around a group of 16 ranchers. Dozens of farms and businesses now take part, from fruit orchards and Christmas tree growers to wineries and bakeries. Fall is the peak, with changing leaves and long lines for pie and cider. Several farms stand out. Delfino Farms has baked for more than 60 years, with apple crisps and blackberry sour cream pie. Boa Vista Orchards is a fifth-generation farm with cider and pie, and Bluestone Meadow grows lavender you can pick. O'Halloran's Apple Trail Ranch lets visitors pick fruit. Madroña and Docmanov Vineyards add premium wines, and the El Dorado Winery Association's Passport Weekend each spring sends people tasting room to tasting room. The Camino Hotel, built in 1888 for lumberjacks, now offers themed rooms for overnight visitors. Winter alters the whole picture. Snow falls regularly at this elevation, and storm days can close side roads, but the quieter months also bring a calmer pace and easy parking. Camino Union Elementary School District serves the community, and the highway connects it to Placerville to the west and the Tahoe Basin to the east. Grizzly Flats lies to the southeast on the county roads. October and early November bring crowds, when the farm roads fill with visitors and the whole area shifts into festival mode. Camino rewards people who like orchards and quiet more than they like an urban center.