Collectors will prize the variety of charming antique shops and local arts and crafts in the nearby historic towns of Portola, Blairsden and Graeagle. Here dining options range from casual cafés and taverns to gourmet restaurants and splendid open-air venues. To deepen your sense of history, take the family to the Portola Railroad Museum, and climb aboard the old train cars. Or pan for gold at Plumas Eureka State Park.

When you’re ready for a change of pace, the glamour and gaming of Reno and North Lake Tahoe are about an hour’s drive away. Not to mention alpine skiing and snowboarding at Lake Tahoe’s resorts.