Groveland offers small-town charm, spectacular Sierra sightseeing

The Hotel Charlotte is in Groveland (Tuolumne County). The Hotel Charlotte is in Groveland (Tuolumne County). Photo: James Tensuan Photo: James Tensuan Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Groveland offers small-town charm, spectacular Sierra sightseeing 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

Friday

Checking and dining in: You have only one destination Friday night, and it’s right on Main Street.

Modern comforts and vintage credentials mingle at Hotel Charlotte, named for Charlotte DeFerrari, an Italian immigrant who operated the two-story wooden hotel and adjacent restaurant from 1921 to 1948. Doug and Jenn Edwards, the young couple who bought the 15-room hotel in 2012, have kept exactly the right amount of quaint touches — patchwork quilts, clawfoot tubs — while offering up-to-date amenities such as satellite TV, free Wi-Fi and individual thermostats. (For those who need more room and modernity, the innkeepers also book several vacation rentals at nearby Pine Mountain Lake.)

The Edwardses recently turned over the restaurant, which includes a few tables in the living-room-style lobby, into the creative hands of chef Aaron Haas, formerly of Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey and the Evergreen Lodge. Although pulled-pork spaetzle, lamb sausage, black truffled potatoes and bone marrow-braised boneless short ribs reflect his love of hearty food, albeit locally sourced, Hass also whips up a mean kale salad with apples and smoked kabocha pumpkin — all the better to justify ordering his Yosemite s’mores pie with blackberry coulis.

Hotel Charlotte, 18736 Main St. (Hwy. 120). (209) 962-6455, www.hotelcharlotte.com. Rooms and suites: weekends $139-$225, weekdays: $129-$199. Vacation rentals: $175 nightly.

Fork & Love, inside Hotel Charlotte (see above). Fall hours, Wednesday-Sunday 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Saturday

Forest and fire: After hitting the Hotel Charlotte’s continental breakfast buffet, which starts at 7:30 a.m., you’ll be hitting the road. Plan to spend at least four to five hours following the U.S. Forest Service’s new Rim Fire Audio Trail, which traces the devastation of the 2013 fire that blazed through 402 square miles of the Stanislaus National Forest, and points to hopeful signs of restoration.

Download the free map and audio files for the 11-stop, 42-mile tour before you leave (especially now that the Groveland Ranger Station, the first stop, is open weekdays only). Just about 12 miles outside of town on Highway 120, the second stop is the Rim of the World Vista, which shows the rugged terrain that made fighting the fire so difficult.

Before a lunch break at Evergreen Lodge (below), you’ll also visit the Rainbow Pool Day Use Area, a former stagecoach stop and popular picnic area that the Rim Fire raced through; the spooky, scorched earth of the city of Berkeley Tuolumne Family Camp off Harden Flat Road; and the 2.8-mile round-trip Carlon Falls Trail off Evergreen Road, where pine beetles are bypassing burned trees for the young green ones. Stretch your legs on the easy path to the falls along the south fork of the Tuolumne River.

After lunch, intriguing points on the audio trail include the under-restoration Mather Meadow and dramatic Mather Road Overlook, both off Mather Road, and the former Incident Command Post for 5,000 firefighters and Spinning Wheel Overlook, with a view of remote homes saved from the Rim Fire, both off Cherry Lake Road.

Rim Fire Audio Trail, www.3forests.us/rimfire.

Stanislaus National Forest Groveland Ranger Station, 24545 Hwy. 120, 8 miles east of town. (209) 962-7825, www.fs.usda.gov/stanislaus.

Late lunch and libations: Evergreen Lodge’s venerable wood-clad Tavern and (in good weather) its covered dining patio make an inviting lunch stop for gourmet burgers, sandwiches and salads ($12-$15) before heading back to Groveland proper. It could also be time to choose from the craft beers on tap, the extensive wine list or the menu of manager Doug Salles’ tasty seasonal concoctions ($10-$12), such as the Humito — the botanical spirit Hum mixed with rum, mint, blackberries, lime and agave nectar, and topped with ginger beer.

Note: The same former Stanford Business School classmates who run Evergreen Lodge are already taking reservations for the June 15 opening of Rush Creek Lodge, an all-new resort a half mile from Yosemite’s northern entrance on Hwy. 120.

33160 Evergreen Road. (209) 379-2606, www.evergreenlodge.com. Tavern lunch, noon to 3 p.m. daily. See website for details on Evergreen Lodge’s formal dining room, cabins and cottages. For Rush Creek Lodge details, see www.rushcreeklodge.com.

Shop and sip: Returning from the Lodge, pull over at Yosemite Gateway Antiques, at the corner of Ferretti Road and Main Street. Owner Nancy Thompson has expanded to a 2,000-square-foot space to display her intriguing stash of vintage goods, collectibles and artwork. (It’s also next to the Mar-Val Food Store, the local grocery store, in case you need to refresh any personal supplies.)

A few blocks west, past Hotel Charlotte, you’ll find the leafy Mountain Sage complex, including a nursery, concert venue and, in a house built in 1877, a handsome coffee bar with homemade pastries and the Robb Hirsch Photo Gallery. The last features fine-art prints of transcendent Sierra landscapes, wildflowers and wildlife captured by Hirsch, a field biologist whose striking images also grace the Ahwahnee Hotel.

Savor his shots with a steaming yerba mate latte or other specialty drink to perk you up before crossing the street and heading a few steps east to Serendipity, Jill Lawrence’s wonderfully eclectic trove of antiques, gifts and home decor. Fun finds include brightly hued knit and felt hats, locally made jams, whimsical jewelry made from manual typewriter keys or vintage soda bottle tops, and appealingly arrayed fine china of bygone eras.

Yosemite Gateway Antiques, 18919 Ferretti Road. (209) 962-2184. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Mountain Sage, 18653 Main St. (209) 962-4686. 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Serendipity, 18680 Main St. (209) 962-7621. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

Dining out: Beyond Fork & Love, Groveland’s dinner options are limited. Locals will recommend driving to Pine Mountain Lake to eat at the Grill, but because you’ll also spot them queuing up for the huge portions of Mexican food at Cocina Michoacana, next to the Hotel Charlotte, tell them you’re done driving for the day.

If you’re feeling in the mood for fancier digs, head across the street to the Cellar Door in the historic Groveland Hotel, one part adobe built circa 1849 and one part Hetch Hetchy worker housing, circa 1915. The restaurant boasts 600 labels in its somewhat pricey wine cellar, and a straightforward menu (filet mignon, pesto shrimp) with local sourcing when possible.

Cocina Michoacana, 18730 Main St. (209) 962-6651. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily March through December; January-February, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday-Sunday and 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

Cellar Door, 18767 Main St. (209) 962-4000, www.groveland.com. Dinner 5:30 to 9 p.m. daily October-November, 5:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday-Monday December-April, 5:30 to 10 p.m. daily May-September. See website for breakfast hours.

Rocking out: After dinner, it’s time to cut loose at the lively tavern known as the Iron Door Saloon since the 1930s. Opened in 1852 as the Granite Store and owned by the Barsotti-Loh family for the last 30 years, the saloon claims to be the oldest continuously operating drinking hole in California.

These days it features eponymous iron doors imported from England, a cavernous ceiling dotted with dollar bills, interior walls with trophy mounts and vintage photos, a bar that serves cold beer and a stage with live rock or blues music every Saturday night (and most Fridays). Don’t be afraid to join the locals on the dance floor.

18761 Main St. (209) 962-8904, www.iron-door-saloon.com. Open 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

Sunday

Trail riding: After another early breakfast, saddle up for an hour-long trail ride at typically sunny Pine Mountain Lake, the 3,600-acre gated community where most Groveland residents live. Pine and oak forests surround a 201-acre artificial lake, a busy playground in summer for owners and their guests. Facilities open to the public year-round include an 18-hole championship golf course, a campground, the Grill restaurant and 19th Hole Lounge (with live music most Saturday nights), airport and the tidy Equestrian Center.

Beyond the trail ride, cowpokes ages 3 to 10 can opt for a 15-minute pony ride with a lead line, while experienced riders should talk to Equestrian Center manager Jeanna Santalucia about arranging a special excursion.

13309 Clifton Way. (209) 962-8667, www.pinemountainlake.com. Guided rides for ages 8 and up, $40; lead line pony ride, $8. Offered by reservation only, weekends fall through spring, daily Memorial Day-Labor Day.

Tea timing: Refuel as early as 11 a.m. with the full tea luncheon at Dori’s Tea Cottage & Cafe, a deli and cozy two-room teahouse that formerly served as the postmaster’s residence and post office. Opened in 2008 by Dori and Greg Jones in tribute to her English grandmother, the tea cottage serves sweet and savory (and filling) delicacies prepared by expert baker Linelle Marshall and impeccable teas in colorful bone china cups.

18744 Main St. (209) 962-5300, http://doristeacottage.com. Tea luncheon 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Monday, reservations advised; cafe 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Monday.

Time traveling: To put your Groveland weekend in context before you head home, save an hour for the Groveland Yosemite Gateway Museum. It’s at the top of Mary Laveroni Community Park, formerly the site of the Hetch Hetchy O’Shaughnessy Dam construction headquarters and named for the Groveland woman who helped acquire the 2.3-acre plot from San Francisco in the 1950s.

Inside the compact museum, operated by the Southern Tuolumne County Historical Society, friendly and knowledgeable docents in Forty-Niner garb are happy to lead you through exhibits on the area’s Gold Rush settlers and their descendants, logging and mining operations, and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, to name a few. Or just browse by yourself, leaving time for the gift shop.

18990 Main St., Groveland. (209) 962-0300, www.grovelandmuseum.com. Open 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday-Saturday (till 4:30 p.m. daily mid-March through mid-October). Free admission; donations accepted.