Experience Twain Harte...
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It's a town with a difference--Sixty foot tall pine trees and a beautiful mountain lake.
There are gift shops, antique stores, and clothing shops: The Harte Collection, All that Matters, Nature's Nook, and the Walk-In Closet.
Play golf at the Twain Harte Golf Club or tennis at the public courts. In summer, there is miniature golf and a public swimming pool.
A variety of restaurants can be found downtown and nearby. There is breakfast at the Sportsman Cafe, Little Cottage Cafe, and The Rock.
For lunch, there is traditional food, Mexican, Italian, and Chinese all downtown. For pizza, there is Neopolitan pizza and wine at The Prospector in downtown, and traditional pizza at the Pizza Factory in the Village Center.
You can stay overnight in Twain Harte at one of the motels, lodges, bed-and-breakfasts or rental cabins and spend time in the town and also visit recreational opportunities higher up the mountain. Pinecrest Lake, fifteen miles east of Twain Harte, (shown in the slide show) offers boating, kayaking and bicycling (rentals available), bank and boat fishing, a beach, and hiking.
There is also sightseeing with a beautiful drive up into the higher country along the Stanislaus River (shown in slide show).
What's Nearby
Twain Harte is up the mountain from the foothills towns of Jamestown, Sonora, Columbia CA, and Murphys CA. Further up Hwy 108 are Mi Wuk Village and Pinecrest Lake.
NEW! See our easy-to-navigate Restaurant Menus.
It's a town with a difference--Sixty foot tall pine trees and a beautiful mountain lake.
There are gift shops, antique stores, and clothing shops: The Harte Collection, All that Matters, Nature's Nook, and the Walk-In Closet.
Play golf at the Twain Harte Golf Club or tennis at the public courts. In summer, there is miniature golf and a public swimming pool.
A variety of restaurants can be found downtown and nearby. There is breakfast at the Sportsman Cafe, Little Cottage Cafe, and The Rock.
For lunch, there is traditional food, Mexican, Italian, and Chinese all downtown. For pizza, there is Neopolitan pizza and wine at The Prospector in downtown, and traditional pizza at the Pizza Factory in the Village Center.
You can stay overnight in Twain Harte at one of the motels, lodges, bed-and-breakfasts or rental cabins and spend time in the town and also visit recreational opportunities higher up the mountain. Pinecrest Lake, fifteen miles east of Twain Harte, (shown in the slide show) offers boating, kayaking and bicycling (rentals available), bank and boat fishing, a beach, and hiking.
There is also sightseeing with a beautiful drive up into the higher country along the Stanislaus River (shown in slide show).
What's Nearby
Twain Harte is up the mountain from the foothills towns of Jamestown, Sonora, Columbia CA, and Murphys CA. Further up Hwy 108 are Mi Wuk Village and Pinecrest Lake.
Wine tasting is available at Sierra Cellars and at events such as the Art & Wine
Festival held in July.
Video Tour of Twain Harte
Hiking & Fishing at the Canal
Mark Twain and Bret Harte
Twain Harte was named for Mark Twain and Bret Harte, the two most famous American writers of the last half of the nineteenth century. Both wrote stories and tall tales based on their experiences living in the area, then known as the "Tuolumne Hills". Click to read about Mark Twain and read his stories and read about Bret Harte and read his stories.
History of Twain Harte
For centuries before whites appeared in California the MiWok Indians lived, in season, next to what is now Twain Harte Lake. They built houses known as "U'macha's", conical structures made from cedar bark. A U'macha' is shown in the slide show above.
During the Gold Rush Twain Harte was the site of flume-and-ditch building to supply water needed to wash the dirt and gravel to yield gold. This system still exists and supplies the county from Lyons Reservoir. (Lyons Dam is shown in the slide show.)
At the turn into the twentieth century the Sugar Pine Railway was built through Twain Harte. This railway carried logs from the high country to the sawmill in Standard.
In the 1920s and 30s the Twain Harte area was developed as a resort and as what is believed to be the first private subdivision in the Sierra. It was named Twain Harte Lodge in the 1920s after the famous authors Mark Twain and Bret Harte, who had lived in the general area. The first version of the well-known Twain Harte "Arch" was built in 1933. The golf course was built in the 1930s. Over the years Twain Harte has developed into a community with several thousand permanent residents.
Twain Harte was named for Mark Twain and Bret Harte, the two most famous American writers of the last half of the nineteenth century. Both wrote stories and tall tales based on their experiences living in the area, then known as the "Tuolumne Hills". Click to read about Mark Twain and read his stories and read about Bret Harte and read his stories.
History of Twain Harte
For centuries before whites appeared in California the MiWok Indians lived, in season, next to what is now Twain Harte Lake. They built houses known as "U'macha's", conical structures made from cedar bark. A U'macha' is shown in the slide show above.
During the Gold Rush Twain Harte was the site of flume-and-ditch building to supply water needed to wash the dirt and gravel to yield gold. This system still exists and supplies the county from Lyons Reservoir. (Lyons Dam is shown in the slide show.)
At the turn into the twentieth century the Sugar Pine Railway was built through Twain Harte. This railway carried logs from the high country to the sawmill in Standard.
In the 1920s and 30s the Twain Harte area was developed as a resort and as what is believed to be the first private subdivision in the Sierra. It was named Twain Harte Lodge in the 1920s after the famous authors Mark Twain and Bret Harte, who had lived in the general area. The first version of the well-known Twain Harte "Arch" was built in 1933. The golf course was built in the 1930s. Over the years Twain Harte has developed into a community with several thousand permanent residents.
Entrance to the Forest
Twain Harte is just above the foothills towns of Sonora and Jamestown—we get snow some of the time—we're about 3650 feet above sea level. We're in the forest, with tall trees everywhere. It's a great place to stop for lunch or dinner or to stay overnight on your way to take sightseeing drives in the Stanislaus National Forest and stops at Pinecrest Lake for fishing, boating, playing in the sand.
Events in Twain Harte
Twain Harte has many events throughout the year. Among the more popular are:
Concerts in the Pines. Summer concerts on Saturdays, 6pm-8pm, June 18-September 3,2011. Blues with an Attitude, Jana Marie & Friends, Rock of Ages, Departure, Devin Cox Band, Homegrown, Blues Box Bayou Band, Nigel & Clive, The Corvairs, Chains Required, Jim & the Waverunners, Columbia Kicks Big Band.
Movies in the Pines. Summer movies outdoors on Fridays, 8:30pm, July 1-July 29, 2010. Yogi Bear, Megamind, Shreck the Final Chapter, Eclipse the Twilight Sage, Despicable Me.
Art & Wine Festival. Saturday-Sunday, July 23-24, 2011, 10am-6pm. Crafts fair with over 100 craftspeople and artists, live entertainment, wine tasting.
Oktoberfest. Saturday-Sunday, October 1-2, 2010, 10am-5pm. Beer tasting noon-3pm, live music, arts, crafts.
Twain Harte is just above the foothills towns of Sonora and Jamestown—we get snow some of the time—we're about 3650 feet above sea level. We're in the forest, with tall trees everywhere. It's a great place to stop for lunch or dinner or to stay overnight on your way to take sightseeing drives in the Stanislaus National Forest and stops at Pinecrest Lake for fishing, boating, playing in the sand.
Events in Twain Harte
Twain Harte has many events throughout the year. Among the more popular are:
Concerts in the Pines. Summer concerts on Saturdays, 6pm-8pm, June 18-September 3,2011. Blues with an Attitude, Jana Marie & Friends, Rock of Ages, Departure, Devin Cox Band, Homegrown, Blues Box Bayou Band, Nigel & Clive, The Corvairs, Chains Required, Jim & the Waverunners, Columbia Kicks Big Band.
Movies in the Pines. Summer movies outdoors on Fridays, 8:30pm, July 1-July 29, 2010. Yogi Bear, Megamind, Shreck the Final Chapter, Eclipse the Twilight Sage, Despicable Me.
Art & Wine Festival. Saturday-Sunday, July 23-24, 2011, 10am-6pm. Crafts fair with over 100 craftspeople and artists, live entertainment, wine tasting.
Oktoberfest. Saturday-Sunday, October 1-2, 2010, 10am-5pm. Beer tasting noon-3pm, live music, arts, crafts.