Join Huell as he rides right through the middle of some California history! First stop is Beal's Cut, a hand-cut stagecoach road in the the Santa Clarita Mountains and a steep "short cut" between the pueblo of Los Angeles and points north. General Phineas Banning drove the first stage through the treacherous mountain pass in 1854. In 1863 troops under the command of General Beale deepened "the cut" to its present depth of 90 ft. In 1910 the old roadway was replaced by the nearby Newhall Tunnel, which gave way to modern-day Sierra Highway in 1938. Santa Clarita Valley Historian Philip Scorsa tells Huell all there is to know, including how Beal’s Cut lived on as a movie location for decades to come. Then, it’s onto Groveland, a quirky Gold Rush community with Native American roots. Huell gets a tour with Innkeeper Peggy Mosley and sees the sights, including: "The Iron Door" – known as the oldest continuously operating saloon in the west. Groveland is also the headquarters for the Hetch Hetchy project, and gateway to Yosemite National Park.

Nestled in a small valley nearly 12 miles outside of Avalon on Catalina Island is El Rancho Escondido, “the hidden ranch.” Still a working ranch, it was originally started as the Wrigley family's Arabian Horse Ranch. The facility’s prizewinning horses, historic memorabilia, and entertaining exhibits make it great place to visit. Huell spends the day with members of the Wrigley family as they reminisce about life on the ranch.

Huell goes to sea on an urchin diving adventure off the Channel Islands. Huell joins the crew of the fishing boat “Janice Anne” as they travel to the waters off the Channel Islands to go Urchin diving. Urchins are big business in California and some call them “Blue Water Gold.” We finish the show at Piranha, a popular sushi restaurant in Santa Barbara for an urchin feast.

Skimboarding is a sport similar to surfing which takes place near the shore. The skimboarder stands about twenty feet from the ocean with skimboard in hand and waits for a wave. When they see a wave they run towards it with their skimboard still in hand. Upon reaching the wet sand they drop the board and jump onto it as quickly as possible. Once on the board, the skimmer must remain as stable as possible and prepare to make the transition to the ocean. The skimmer then (hopefully) glides out into the ocean toward the oncoming wave, banks off of it, and rides it back into shore. Huell travels to Laguna to watch some locals show how its done.

Join Huell as he takes an exciting 4-mile railroad excursion on Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. Ride into history where powerful locomotives once hauled massive log trains through the Sierra mountains. Where mighty lumberjacks felled the timber and flumes carried lumber to the distant valley below. The Sierra National Forest's majestic woods provide the backdrop for the narrow gauge journey back in time. This old steam train is a wonderful ride into the past.

When most people think of Yosemite, they imagine towering peaks and cascading waterfalls, but there is an amazing human history that is told through some of the many buildings that dot the valley floor. In this adventure, Huell discover two small buildings that are very historic and very beautiful. He visits the Yosemite Valley Chapel, which was built in 1879 and is the oldest structure in park. The little chapel continues to serve as a place of worship for residents and visitors alike, as it has done for over 125 years. Next it’s off to the LeConte Memorial Lodge, a National Historic Landmark, which was built by the Sierra Club in 1903-04. The unique structure honors eminent University of California geologist Joseph LeConte, an early Director of the Sierra Club who died in the Valley in 1901. This beautiful stone structure is a real gem.

Huell goes in search of some of our most permanent residents in this episode of California's Gold. We'll see where some of TV & Film's most famous animals are resting in peace... and many of them are not where you would think! Join us as we visit Toto from the "Wizard Of Oz," Old Blue - one of the first animal stars of the silver screen, Arnold the Pig from "Green Acres," the irresistibly scrappy Benji the dog, Pete from "Our Gang," and many more.

In the mid 1920's, Rex B. Clark, an unmatched visionary of his time, accomplished the near impossible by constructing the world-class Norconian Resort in a remote area of Southern California. The Norconian was an immediate success and frequented by the rich elite and Hollywood's finest. Unfortunately, the Club never made a nickel as the Stock Market crash and subsequent economic depression forced Clark to give up his dream after a ten year fight. The story didn't end there. The fabulous resort was converted into one of the pre-eminent Naval Hospitals in the United States; a facility that treated survivors of Pearl Harbor and pioneered the use of Penicillin, the polio vaccine and state of the art rehabilitation techniques. Subsequently, one of the finest Naval Weapons Testing sites in the Nation and the California Rehabilitation Center, the first state funded addict treatment center in the country, called the old resort home; adding to the Norconian's rich and fabulous history. Huell travels to the site with Kevin Bash who is a filmmaker and historian to see this faded but beautiful structure in all its glory.

The giant statue of Paul Bunyan greets visitors to this family run road-side attraction that has been open since the 1930's. Join host Huell Howser as he get a tour through some of the most amazing Redwoods in California, but its not just any old walking tour where you stare up at these impossibly tall trees; its a SkyTrail, which is basically a ski lift which gets you at tree-top level giving you an amazing new view. Among the many trees we'll visit is the Cathedral Tree - actually nine trees in one, when it fell it didn't die and the roots of the stump sprouted and these nine trees happened to grow together in a circle around the original mother tree's stump. This tree is the site of Easter services each year and also many, many weddings.We'll also see the Brotherhood Tree, which even after losing the top 74 feet in a storm, is still one of the largest living things in the world. It weighs in at over 2,000 years old, 19 feet in diameter, 60 feet in circumference and 297 feet tall.

Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971. Inside, astronaut Stuart Roosa had packed a small container filled with hundreds of tree seeds. After splashdown these seeds were germinated and planted all over the world.Join Huell as he starts his quest to find the Moon Trees. First stop is at the Placerville Forrest Service where we meet up with one of the people who actually helped plant the seeds, then we'll travel all around the State to find where the Moon Trees are still standing.

Huell visits a massive archelogical site with millions of fossils dating from the Miocene Epoch, 15 million years ago. Kern County was once at the bottom of a huge sea filled with massive prehistoric sharks called megladons which were as big as city busses and fed on whales. Sharktooth Hill is literally covered with fossilized shark teeth. Huell also visits the Buena Vista Museum, which houses amazing archeological finds recovered from Sharktooth Hill. The Buena Vista Museum of Natural History is located in the heart of downtown Bakersfield. It houses an impressive display of fossils frm the Miocene Epoch which was 14-16 million years ago. The fossils were found in the foothills northeast of Bakersfield, known as the Sharktooth Hill area. Kern County is home to over 100 square miles of fossil beds from the Miocene Epoch. While Sharktooth Hill is closed to the general public, you can arrange to go on a paleontology dig through the Buena Vista Museum and keep some real shark teeth, too.