San Luis Obispo Train

Enjoy one of California's oldest and exciting traditions at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center at Cal Poly Pomona where, for over 60 years, monthly horse shows feature beautiful, pure-bred Arabian horses. Then hit the trail and trace the history of the Pony Express riders at the annual Pony Express Re-run in Sacramento as present-day riders re-enact this bit of Old West experience.

Learn two fascinating, yet obscure, California footnotes to World War II: a German-made crane which is the largest self-propelled floating crane berthed at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, and an incident involving a Japanese submarine that shelled the oil fields of Ellwood in Santa Barbara County in 1942.

 

 

 

 

 

Huell travels to remote areas of the desert to take an up-close-and-personal look at mud pots. He later tours Leonard Knight's "Salvation Mountain."

Sit tight and watch the electrifying Annual Catalina Ski Race, a competition that has been ongoing for over 40 years, where "hot doggers" race in excess of 60 mph from Long Beach to Catalina Island and back; coast along to the serene and little-known San Nicolas Island-one of the Channel Islands off the California coast, a haven for wildlife and a sight for sore eyes.

Travel down to where the streets have no name and see the world's tallest, oldest and one of the most peculiar-looking Joshua Trees in an episode devoted to this remarkable desert plant which has come to symbolize the Mojave Desert. Then meet a man, who as a child, lived on a ranch in the seclusion of what is now the Monument.

Huell travels in search of the geographic center of our state and in the process visits a whole string of towns that lay claim to being " the center of California." With the help of locals and a cartographer from the U.S. Geological Survey, Huell finally locates the exact spot and marks it by planting a state flag.

 

 

 

 

 

It was the very first mining community in California, starting up operations in 1845. Before it closed down for good in 1976, it also held the distinction of being the largest, richest mine California has ever known, processing over $700,000,000 in metallic wealth. New Almaden Mine was situated in the Santa Clara Valley near San Jose and in its heyday was bustling with activity with a mix of miners from Mexico to Cornwall. And the surprise is -- this was not a gold mine. It was a quicksilver mine!

Huell visits the historic lumber and railroad town of McCloud, located at the foot of Mt. Shasta, California's second highest mountain. Included in this adventure is a trip on the famous McCloud railroad, a visit to the local swimming hole located in a magnificent natural setting and a tour of the town and its quaint, old buildings.

 

In this episode of "California's Gold," Huell salutes the railroads by "riding the rails." Catch is, he won't be riding on an actual train!

Welcome to Suisun Bay, home to one of the strangest fleets of ships you'll ever see, the "Mothball Fleet". Hundreds of ships all chained together, from tub to tanker, from Victory to cruiser, these ships are part of our National Defense Reserve Fleet. Come aboard with Huell as he tours some of these historic ships harking back to our state's — and our nation's naval past.

Visit a place that very few Californians have ever seen: the St. George Reef Lighthouse, eight miles off the coast of Northern California, in Crescent City. Join Huell as he is airlifted to the tiny reef which holds this now-abandoned century old treasure. This one-of-a-kind structure reaches 142 feet in the air and is a "wave washed" lighthouse--meaning that it takes the brunt of the sea from all sides. This adventure is a rare treat.

A century ago, it was the hub of Northern California -- a crossroads where over the years you would have encountered Mutsune Indians, Franciscan padres, fierce outlaws and a host of other fascinating characters.

California is full of them. They are located in both fresh and salt water. Some are big and some are small. And they're all part of our state's rich geological and human history. We're talking about rocks in the water! And in this episode host Huell Howser visits three of the most fascinating of these rocks. First, Huell travels to scenic Lake Tahoe and boards a boat to Emerald Bay where he climbs all over Fannette Island, the only island in the entire lake.

Sunny beaches and swaying palm trees are very much a part of what California is all about. So are snow and ice. And to prove it, host Huell Howser and camerman Luis Fuerte bundle up and travel to one of the coldest places in our state in search of historic snow and ice. They find it first in a lake near Truckee in Nevada County. Today, ice is part of a readily-accessible and plentiful part of our daily lives.

They've been a part of the California landscape for hundreds of years, helping to build our canals and highways and railroads, hauling our freight, our silver bullion and, of course, playing a major role during the gold rush era. However, many people are under the false impression that they're stubborn, while others tend to overlook them in favor of the more glamorous horse.

What do a brilliant field of marigolds, an ostrich farm, thousands of cacti and a two-story outhouse have in common? The answer is that they are all accidental discoveries made by producer/host Huell Howser as he traveled the state in search of California's Gold. "As we drive down the highways of our state we're always seeing things that surprise and amaze us," says Huell. "This entire episode is made up of people, places and things we came across quite by accident as we were heading for a planned shooting location."

It began back in 1941 when it was known as Camp Cooke and served as a U.S. Army training facility for tanks and infantry troops. With the advent of the missile age in the 1950s, the land was transferred to the U.S Air Force for use as a missile training base. The first missile was launched from this facility in 1958 and since then almost 2,000 missiles and space boosters have followed suit.

The Chumash called it Wimal. To Conquistador Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo it was San Lucas. Today it is known as Santa Rosa, and its 54,000 acres of open land 24 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara is the newest addition to Channel Islands National Park.

Huntington Beach is known as “Surf City”, but in this adventure, we wont even get near the ocean. Huntington Central Park is the largest city-owned park in Orange County covering over 350 acres of land. Huell visits the Shipley Nature Center, an 18-acre natural area filled with beautiful winding paths and spectacular flora and fauna. Next it’s off to The Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center which is home to 420 privately owned horses and surrounded by 185 acres of public trails.

In this episode, Huell visits San Miguel Island, with a group of history buffs who recreate the 1542 landing of Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo -- the first European explorer of the California Coast. Complete with authentic costumes, boats, and the fact that its done on the deserted white sandy beaches, this re-enactment really does take you back in time. Huell is also joined by Nation Park Rangers, and a woman who actually lived on the island with her parents during the 1930's and 40's.

 

 

 

 

 

They're one of the most famous air squadrons in the world -- serving as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors not only for our Navy, but for our country. We're talking about the Blue Angels who, since first formed in 1946, have been demonstrating their flying skills and maneuvers to literally millions of spectators each year. And for over 30 years the Blue Angels have been a part of "California's Gold." Since 1967 the squadron has spent the winter at Naval Air Facility, El Centro, training pilots and new crew members.

Huell visits Costa Mesa and sees how far its come from its start as a bean field to a state of the art performance center. 

After seeing a website devoted to all the great cultural and historic sites to view along the original Route 66 in the Newberry Springs area, Huell prints out the map and hops in his car -- eager to start his next "Road Trip." He doesn't find the Buffalo Ranch, Big Al's Pistachio Plant, or the Ostrich Farm he was looking for, but Huell does meet a group of warm, interesting and generous Newberry Springs locals.

Our Golden State is full of many of unique things, and those of you who have been to San Fransisco have noticed huge ponds filled with water that ranges in color from deep red to light pink. We decided that we just had to get to the bottom of this California Mystery. When we finally arrived at the "ponds" we found one of California's most unique agricultures. Salt and brine shrimp are what is responsible for our crimson ponds. 300,000 tons of salt a year to be exact. Salt has been harvested from these ponds since the Gold Rush and has been a very important part of our states history.

For 50 years one of the most popular ways to travel up and down the mighty Mississippi River has been aboard the authentic paddlewheel steamboat Delta Queen. To ride on this boat is to step back in time -- in fact, the Delta Queen has been declared a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But true riverboat buffs will tell you that the Delta Queen was not originally built to travel on the Mississippi River. It's a California boat, built in Stockton in the late 1920's for service on the Sacramento River.

They were huge flying boats named after the great sailing ships that in the 1800's sailed the oceans of the world. The luxurious Pan American "Clipper" planes of the 1930's took cargo, mail and passengers around the world in what was, for its time, considered a daring and pioneering feat. Pan American's Treasure Island terminal and lagoon became the home port for the Clipper's Pacific operations -- connecting the United States with the Far East by air.

Huell visits the historic and ecclectic mining town of Randsburg in Kern County off Highway 395 to meet some very interesting locals.

 

It started back in 1921 and quickly became one of California's biggest and "sweetest" success stories. The little shop on Western Avenue featured the favorite candy recipes of Mary See and focused on farm-fresh ingredients and homemade goodness. Before long this little shop had grown into a chain of stores serving loyal customers, and See's Candies had become famous around the world. In this calorie-laden edition of "California's Gold," host Huell Howser gets a first hand taste of the See's story.

We all know our deserts here in California are big. They cover huge areas of our state. And in this episode of "California's Gold," producer/host Huell Howser travels to the desert in search of big things -- and finds them! First, he travels to the Palms Springs area to visit one of six major wind farms in the world. Over 4,000 giant windmills are here -- some almost two hundred feet tall -- making clean, pollution-free energy representing the future of energy production.

Imagine driving through Lompoc in the early 1940's and coming across a huge 12 acre American flag made up of red, white and blue flowers. That's just what people saw every spring for several years and it was a remarkable sight. In 1942 the good folks at Bodger Seeds in Lompoc decided they could do something really spectacular to support the war effort. A 12 acre flower flag was their way of saying thanks to all the Americans who were fighting the good fight. The company planted " flags" in 1942, '43, '45 and 1952.

Citrus was to southern California what the discovery of gold was to the north because it triggered a massive migration to our state. In fact, many Americans from back east came to California to see for themselves the "paradise" found on those early crate labels used to promote citrus fruit. Through these labels, "California sunshine" and "California living" became deeply ingrained in the popular imagination of a nation.

It appears on the southern slope of the San Bernardino Mountains. Over the years it has been the subject of a host of Indian legends. In fact, no other natural landmark in those mountains has been regarded with such awe and wonder. We're referring to the "Arrowhead," a near-perfect natural 7 1/2 acre arrowhead-shaped landmark formed by the contrast of light and dark vegetation which has been clearly visible for hundreds, possibly thousands, of years.

Imagine sitting by the lake on a hot day and watching as a car drives into the water and motors away. Well that's just what piqued Huell's interest. Terry Tates parents bought their Amphibious Car in the early '60s and have passed it on to Terry. Huell goes to lake Castaic and gets the ride of his life.

Most of us have seen one of the countless films based on Alcatraz, from "The Birdman" to Clint Eastwood and his "Escape From Alcatraz." Over a million people every year take the ferry through the thick San Francisco fog to walk the cell blocks that housed the likes of Machine Gun Kelley and Al Capone. As usual Huell wasn't satisfied with the regular tour and went in search of the "Hidden Alcatraz". It got it's name from the Spanish word Alcatraces, or Bird Island and didn't see human inhabitants until the U.S. Military took it over in the mid 1800s.

Surfing has played a major role in the "California" lifestyle and has a rich and colorful history up and down our coast. One of the most famous and historic is San Onofre Beach in San Diego County. Surfing got it's start in Polynesia over three thousand years ago and Hawaiian's have been riding waves for over one thousand. Surfing arrived in California in 1907 and has been a passion of Californians ever since. Many of our states early surfing pioneers cut their chops on the famous waves at San Onofre Beach.

Huell visits the onetime Palm Springs home of Elvis Presley. This home is now designated as a historic property and open the public.

 

 

 

 

 

Huell travels to the mountains above Fresno to tour "Big Creek"' which was America's first large-scale integrated hydroelectric project, begun in 1911. This massive engineering marvel consists of 23 generating units in nine powerhouses with a generating capacity of approximately 1,000 megawatts, and six major reservoirs with a storage capacity of more than 560,000 acre-feet. Not only do we get a behind the scenes tour, we'll also meet and hear some great stories from a one of the first families that worked at this remote Edison outpost.

 

 

 

Take a trip to the southernmost and northernmost towns of the state: Enjoy a taste of the Horseradish Festival in Tulelake, near the Oregon border, the Horseradish capital of the world; and experience the sights and sounds of Calexico, a town that reflects its rich Mexican heritage.

Originally just south of the Santa Monica Pier in California, this small plot of "sand" was one of the most famous addresses in the United States from 1934 to 1959. Muscle Beach started as a WPA project in 1934 and helped spawn the modern fitness movement that lives on today. In the beginning it wasn't about muscles, it was about fitness and fun. Men and women did somersaults and handstands, built human towers and threw each other around. Huell and Luis go back to the original plot of sand to visit with some of the men and women who made Muscle Beach their playground during its heyday.

The San Diego & Arizona Railway has been called "the impossible railroad". They broke ground in 1907 and completed the line in 1919. Between San Diego and Arizona is some of the most treacherous countryside in the U.S. with a bevy of workman and a lot of dynamite they managed to snake their way to Arizona. The railroad had many tunnels collapse over the years, especially in the Carrizo Gorge. The railroad decided to build the Goat Canyon Trestle in 1932 after a series of tunnel closures. The Goat Canyon Trestle is one of the most impressive feats of engineering in the world.

Watch the exciting sport of the charreada or Mexican rodeo at a local Ontario arena; hear the crack of the bat at a baseball game played by the Stockton Ports, the minor-league team believed to have inspired the poem, "Casey at the Bat"; and listen to the sounds of San Francisco's Golden Gate Band, the oldest and only year-round municipal park band performing in the country.

Napa valley has become one of California's main tourist attractions. Thousands of people flock to the area for wine tasting and vineyard tours every year. What most people don't realize is that California's rich wine history got it's start in southern California. In this grape filled adventure, Huell travels to one of the oldest winery's in California. The Guasti family established their winery in 1904 and at one time had 4000 acres of grapes in the Rancho Cucamonga area. A virtual town was built to house the employees and their families.

Catalina has been famous for many things over the years, Glass BottomBoats, Buffalo and the Casino to name a few. But one of the strangest and most popular attractions has been the Flying Fish Boat Trip which has been transporting visitors on nighttime journeys to watch Catalina's flying fish since the turn of the century. In 1924 William Wrigley decided to build a boat just for Flying Fish Tours. The Blanche W. is a 64-foot long open-deck wooden boat named after Wrigley's granddaughter Blanche.

Meet a local artisan in Trinidad Bay who transforms redwood logs into beautiful canoes; discover a little-known landmark, the S.S. Palo Alto, a ship made entirely of concrete, docked at the Seacliff Beach pier in Aptos, and sail on the last remaining lightship in a line of floating lighthouses that once marked the entrance to the ship channel leading to San Francisco Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever wondered what 100,000 Monarch Butterflies look like? Well here's your chance. Huell travels to Pismo State Beach to visit the largest overwintering site for Monarch butterflies in the U.S. More people visit this site than any another butterfly site in the world. Last year they had 50,000 visitors!

The miracle of the Swallows of Capistrano takes place each year at the Mission San Juan Capistrano on March 19th, St. Joseph's Day. Legend says the swallows, seeking sanctuary from an innkeeper who destroyed their nests, took up residence at the old Mission. They return to the site each year to nest, knowing their young can be safe within the Mission walls.

Luis Fuerte, Huell Howser’s longtime cameraman joins Val Zavala to reminisce on working with Huell and give behind-the-scenes stories of the following three episodes.

CALIFORNIA'S GOLD WITH HUELL HOWSER #909
BIG THINGS IN THE DESERT

Visit The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace with Huell and first daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower, as she gives a private and personal tour of the farmhouse where her dad was born and raised. During this informal tour, Julie talks about her father's memories of growing up in this simple, wooden home that used to be in the middle of a huge orange grove. It is a rare personal insight into the 37th President's early California years, and an authentic piece of California's Gold.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Obama described Occidental as "a wonderful, small liberal arts college. The professors were diverse and inspiring. I ended up making some lifelong friendships there, and those first two years really helped me grow up." Who knew that the next president of the United States had such a formative connection to California?   Join Huell as he gets the Presidential tour of Occidental College in Eagle Rock, where Barack Obama spent his Freshman and Sophomore years.

Like other states, the hierarchy of California's government begins with our Governor and weaves its way down through offices such as Secretary of State, Attorney General and Senators. What is surprising about California, is that we once had an Emperor and a President.

Huell visits Yosemite's high country for a walk through spectacular Tuolumne Meadows.

First stop is Giant Rock --considered to be the worlds largest free standing boulder, and a long time sacred site to the Native Americans. In the 1950s it became a UFO airport according to George Van Tassel who claimed to be contacted by aliens there, and was host to UFO conventions till the late 70s. One of the things George was told to do by the aliens was to build the Integratron, which is our next stop. This amazing building/machine is supposed to restore youth, although never completed--Huell will get a "sound bath." Hold onto your seats, this will be a wild ride.

Surreal, awesome, unbelievable, weird? These are just some of the words that come out of your mouth when you view the Devil's Postpile. Located in the Eastern Sierras, this formation is one of nature's true masterpieces. Towering 60 feet over the San Joaquin River the postpile looks like a huge cathedral pipe organ built entirely of stone. The postpile is actually composed of thousands of columns of fine-grained, black - colored basalt. 100,000 years ago cooling molten rock contracted, creating perfect cracks.

Join Huell as he hikes high up in the Eastern Sierra to visit the Conness Glacier in a stunning part of the National Forest.

Huell visits Lassen Volcanic National Park. Lava flows, jagged craters and steaming sulphur vents make up some of Lassen's breathtaking landscape.

 

 

Travel with Huell to Sequoia National Forest to visit historic Buck Rock Fire Lookout. Established in the early 1900s, Buck Rock Lookout was one of the first fire detection locations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The current lookout building, constructed in 1923, is historically significant as a representation of the earliest live-in towers in California. Huell climbs 172 stairs to an elevation of 8, 500 feet to interview the woman who currently staffs the lookout through the fire season, and to learn what it's like to live perched on the edge of a cliff!

The San Jacinto Mountains are one of the most impressive natural wonders in our entire state. No other mountains on this continent rise so high so fast, in slightly less than seven horizontal miles, the peak rises from 800 to 10,804 feet above sea level! But these mountains hold another distinction as well.

Huell's off to Yosemite National Park where he walks the newly rehabilitated trails to the base of Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in North America.

 

Huell recently had the adventure of a lifetime when he climbed Yosemite's formidable Half Dome. Join him in this one-hour special documenting his 17 mile round trip trek, along with other avid hikers, to conquer this 4800-foot high landmark.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your very own island? What about an island off the southern coast of California? Join Huell and the family that owns this special island as they return to their little slice of California. It takes three separate boat rides to get there and your feet might get wet, but it is well worth the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

In this muddy adventure, Huell travels to some very remote areas to take an up close and personal look at "mudpots". Mudpots only occur three places in the US and one of them is right here in California. Our first stop is the Imperial Wildlife Area. Huell and a member of the Fish and Game take a look at huge mounds of bubbling, oozing, popping and exploding mudpots. This is a public are that is open to mud lovers one and all. Next its off to some privately owned land which has some extraordinary mudpots.

California and China have had a long and storied connection, the most well known is the Chinese laborers who helped build the California railroads. But on this adventure, Huell finds a few lesser-known examples of California's and China's Gold. A brief stop at the Golden State Bonsai Collection-North in Oakland introduces us to the Bonsai tree given to Chinese Envoy Anson Burlingame of the Lincoln Presidency. Burlingame opened China to the U.S. in the 1860s, and this souvenir from his tenure has been in the U.S. ever since.

Huell spends the day with biologists who live on the Farallon Islands — known as California's Galapagos — found 27 miles off the coast of San Francisco. These wild and remote islands are rich with not only flora and fauna, but human history as well.

 

 

 

 

 

As we all know, California has some spectacular scenery and our great variety of trees makes up a large part of it. In this adventure, Huell visits three "big" trees that are a great example of California's Gold. First Huell travels to Santa Barbara to see the Moreton Bay Fig Tree. Given to a little girl as a gift from an Australian seaman, the sapling was planted in 1876. That little sapling is now the largest Moreton Bay Fig in the continental U.S. The tree is 42 feet around its base, 80 feet tall and has a branch spread of 176 feet.

Huell travels to the Eastern Sierra's in search of a good place to have a soak. Hot Creek Geological Site is nestled in the Inyo National Forest close to the town of Mammoth Lakes. We take a ride out to the site with Debbie Nelson who is a Recreation Specialist for the forest. Huell gets a first hand look at this beautiful spot with water boiling up from the ground which mixes with the cool water of Hot Creek and makes for some very nice swimming. We'll even meet some die-hard soakers who come from all over California to enjoy the therapeutic water.

A 1916 brochure called the town of Petaluma "The largest poultry center in the world" and up until the sixties, Petaluma was a major player in the world of chickens. In 1915, Petaluma shipped 11,681,134 dozen eggs. Huell travels to Petaluma to attend the annual Butter and Egg Days celebration, which ran from 1916 to 1928 and was brought back in the early eighties. Petaluma pulls out all the stops in this wonderful small town gathering.