Community Overview

In the beautiful Sierra Nevada Foothills, in the heart of California’s “Gold Country” lies Sonora, named after the miners from Sonora Mexico who settled the City in 1848. Known as the “Queen of the Southern Mines”, Sonora still holds on to its historic downtown charm while thriving as the commercial, government and cultural center for the region. The City of Sonora is accessible year round and conveniently located near Yosemite National Park and other regional favorites, including Columbia and Railtown State Historic Parks. Every season brings a natural beauty to this City and there are numerous opportunities to enjoy a variety of outdoor activities.

Live Where You Play 

It's all here. Snowboarding and skiing in the winter. Boating, wakeboarding and golfing in the summer. All the outdoor activities you love are right here in Tuolumne County. Mountain biking, hiking, white-water rafting, fishing, camping and much more. If you love the outdoors, you may as well live and work where you can play.

Find out what our employees do during their time off! 

More Information 

Sonora is a part of Tuolumne County (pronounced too-WAH-la-me). Tuolumne’s name translates to “cluster of stone huts” relating to Mi-Wuk Indian dwellings.

Sonora is made up of about 5,000 people or 1,542 people per square mile.
Tuolumne County is about 55,000 people.
Adventist Health-Sonora cover a patient population of 100,000+ patient lives. 

A California Golden Opportunity – Sonora, CA

https://www.sonoraca.com/visit-sonora/

https://www.visittuolumne.com/sonora/ 

Overall Weather 

The sun shines on Tuolumne County an average of 325 days a year. The rising elevation keeps Sonora above the fog and smog usually associated with the Central Valley and Bay Area to the west. The annual mean temperature is 60°F, and annual mean rainfall is 32.85 inches. The area enjoys the accessibility and full beauty evident of four distinct seasons. In the spring, the lower altitudes and foothills turn a rich green, with many of the native grasses becoming golden during the hot, dry summer. In the fall, flaming colors line picturesque roads and dapple the foothills and mountainsides as native flora begrudgingly gives way to winter. Above 5,000 feet, snow remains on the ground from late November through April, but any accumulation is rare below 3000 feet, where many of the county’s main towns are located.

Airports

Sonora is within easy driving distance to five major airports:

  • Sacramento International – 2 Hours
  • Oakland International – 2 Hours
  • San Jose International- 2 Hours
  • San Francisco International – 2 Hours 20 minutes
  • Fresno Yosemite International Airport (116 miles)

In addition, there are two non-commercial airports in the County of Tuolumne, Columbia Airport (209)553-5685 (approximately 5 miles from Sonora) and Pine Mountain Lake Airport, (209)962-8966.

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