Grass Valley Brew Fest 2026: What Downtown Living Feels Like
Every October, downtown Grass Valley shuts down Mill Street for an afternoon and fills it with craft beer, live music, and a few thousand of my neighbors. The Grass Valley Brew Fest is back on Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 1 to 5 p.m., and if you want to understand what it actually feels like to l
What Nevada City's Constitution Day Parade Says About Living Here
This Sunday, September 20, Nevada City closes down Broad Street for its 60th annual Constitution Day Parade, the oldest and largest Constitution observance in the western United States. If you have ever wondered what living in Nevada City actually feels like day to day, this weekend is about as good
A Beer Lover's Guide to Gold Country: Grass Valley, Nevada City & Auburn
If you're road-tripping through the Sierra foothills between Sacramento and Tahoe, you're driving straight through one of Northern California's most underrated craft beer corridors. Grass Valley, Nevada City, and Auburn — three historic Gold Rush towns strung along Highway 49 and I-80 — are packed w
Back-to-School in Nevada County: What New Families Notice First
Backpacks are showing up on porches again, and the parking lot at the grocery store is suddenly full of families stocking up on lunchboxes and folders. School is starting back up across Nevada County, and every year around this time I hear from a few clients who moved here over the summer and are ex
What It's Really Like Living in Penn Valley, CA
People ask me all the time what living in Penn Valley CA is actually like, usually right after they have driven through on the way to Lake Wildwood or Lake of the Pines and fallen in love with the oak-studded hills. My answer is always the same: it depends on what kind of quiet you are looking for.
Working From the Foothills: Why Remote Professionals Are Trading the Bay Area Commute for Nevada County
A few years ago, most of my buyers relocating from the Bay Area or Sacramento were retirees. That's changed. These days I'm just as likely to be showing a home to a software engineer, a designer, or a consultant who realized their job doesn't actually require them to sit in traffic five days a week.
Getting Outside in Nevada County: The Hiking Trails Locals Love
Photo credit: Spencer DeMera / Unsplash Almost every conversation I have with someone relocating here eventually turns to the same question: "But what do people actually do up there?" My answer is usually the same — a lot of it happens on foot. The hiking trails in Nevada County range from flat, eas
July 4th in Nevada County, CA: Fireworks, Parades & Small-Town Summer Magic
July 4th in Nevada County, CA: Fireworks, Parades & Small-Town Summer Magic By Bob Sawyer, RE/MAX Gold | July 2, 2026 Photo by zuzanka galczynska on Unsplash There are plenty of places to watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. But there are very few places in California where you can start the mor
Farmers Markets, Farm-to-Table Dining, and the Local Food Culture That Makes Nevada County Special
Ask longtime Nevada County residents what they'd miss most if they had to leave, and the farmers market is almost always on the short list. It sits right alongside the river access, the small-town pace, and the pines — one of those quality-of-life details that's hard to fully appreciate until you've
