GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVENTURE 
IN AMADOR, EL DORADO

PIPPIN PICKIN

Few things are more nostalgic than apple-picking in the fall, and few places are more perfect for that pursuit than the apple orchards of Camino, high above Placerville. This is apple country, where you can sip fresh-pressed cider, savor crisp Braeburns and Winesaps, and indulge in a perfect cider doughnut.

There are 50 family-owned apple farms tucked along the winding lanes of Camino and Placerville, many with lineages that intermingle. Picnic at George Visman's High Hill Ranch, where the doughnuts are legendary and the cider mill runs from September to December. Or head down the road a bit to Boa Vista Orchards, which is run by Visman's brother Carl and son Brad. (Unlike most of the Apple Hill farms, Boa Vista is open year-round, so you'll be set, if a cider-doughnut hankering strikes in the offseason.)

You'll find 14 varieties of apples, plus pears, pumpkins and squash at O'Halloran's Apple Trail Ranch, strudel at Bavarian Hills and you-pick at Denver Dan's. Just make sure you hit this hillside early in the day, because traffic is intense during peak season and parking can get tricky. Find apple farm maps at www.applehill.com.

GOLD DIGGINS

Indulge your inner 49er -- gold miner, not football player -- at Placerville's Gold Bug Mine. Here, $5 ($3 for kids) and a sense of adventure is all you need to enter this blast to the past, a 352-foot drift into a hard rock mine. First, climb a series of old wooden stairs, past cases filled with Gold Rush-era artifacts and old dynamite boxes, and stop at a table where white hard hats are lined up, ready to go.

This obsession with construction chapeaux may feel like a bit of overkill, until you enter the deep, dark tunnel of the Gold Bug Mine with its uneven walls and ceilings -- and your head goes clonk.

Don't skip the hat, or the self-guided audio tour. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily; www.goldbugpark.org.

FARM FARE

Zach and Kara Taylor's two-story Farm Table restaurant on Placerville's Main Street got its start at the farmers market, where their Smokey Ridge charcuterie, handcrafted sausages, pates and duck confit won raves. Now it's a year-old brick-and-mortar restaurant, with a lineup of seasonal, farm-fresh fare. Beautiful landscape photographs hang on the glossy white walls, the wine list is local and the food -- including a highly addictive buttermilk-marinated Mary's Fried Chicken ($18) -- is fresh and lovely. Psst, if you spot ham-raclette risotto croquettes among the appetizers, don't hesitate.

Grab lunch Tuesday-Sunday, brunch on Sundays and dinner Thursday-Saturday. 311 Main St., Placerville; www.ourfarmtable.com.

WINTERHILL FARMS

Winterhill's delightful tasting room in Placerville is a colorful world of festive paper parasols, olive-wood bowls, olive oil-based body lotions and artisanal extra-virgin olive oils from the 40-acre Winterhill Farm. Sample infused olive oils to your heart's content at the tasting bar, which features everything from a bold, citrusy blood orange olive oil to an irresistible basil infusion that tastes like you've just picked those herbs from the garden. Buy a bottle ($15/250 mL), enjoy it, then bring it (or another empty bottle) back for a discounted refill from the stainless steel fustinos.

Open daily at 321 Main St.; www.winterhillfarms.com.

PLACERVILLE HISTORICAL MUSEUM

Gold Rush-era buildings line the streets of downtown Placerville, which was once known as Old Hangtown -- the mining town had a certain penchant for vigilante justice. The Empire Theater dates to 1850, the Placerville Hardware Store to 1853, and the Fountain & Tallman Soda Works to 1852. Explore the past at the tiny Placerville Historical Museum tucked inside the latter (524 Main St.), then mosey over to the hardware store at 441 Main St.

It's not often that a hardware store appears on a must-see itinerary, but then, you've never seen one like this. The oldest operating hardware store west of the Mississippi has everything you need to seek your fortune, from gold panning equipment to rockers and rope.

HILLTOP SIPS

Apples aren't the only attraction on Camino's orchard-dotted slopes. An assortment of wineries dot this hilltop, too, including Brian and Jennifer Bumgarner's 10-year-old namesake winery, which has a picnic-perfect lawn, a weathered, century-old barn and perhaps the cutest tasting room in the El Dorado appellation. Bumgarner started with cabernet sauvignon sourced from higher elevation vineyards of 2,000 to 3,000 feet, but soon branched out to tempranillo, barbera, Portuguese red varieties and hard cider, too.

The red cedar tasting bar ($5 tasting fee) is sleek, but check out the gleaming silver taps that pour Bumgarner's Silver Fork Wines, small lots of ready-to-drink wines available in reusable, flip-top bottles. The winery's Five Finger Wines are made for aging and are stopped with corks. Grab a flip-top bottle of wine, a few provisions from the deli case and head outside for a wine country picnic.

Try the fruity Bumgarner Five Finger Wines 2012 Touriga ($29), a Portuguese red variety with blackberry and black plum notes, and an aroma that reminded us of heady perfumes. Our favorite pour was the Silver Fork Barbera ($24), which the vintners describe as smelling like "Hot Wheels and crushed black ants." (We've never tried crushed black ants, but the wine had bold sour cherry and cranberry fruit character, with tobacco and a rustic, chewy texture.)

Details: www.bumgarnerwinery.com.