California's Gold poster
Documentary

The Best Episodes of California's Gold

Every episode of California's Gold ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of California's Gold!

The Best Episodes of California's Gold

California's Gold is a public television human interest program that explores the natural, cultural, and historical features of California. The series ran for 24 seasons...

Filter By Season24

  1. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Living History

    Loading...
    S1:E1

    No description available

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  2. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #2 - Inaugural Special

    Loading...
    S1:E3

    Huell Howser spends this special episode focusing his attention on the inauguration of governors of the state of California. Huell Howser spends this episode speaking with various individuals about the history of inaugurations and California governors. Near the end of the episode Huell attends the inauguration of Governor Pete Wilson. This episode also features Governor Wilson’s speech at the end.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  3. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #3 - National Special

    Loading...
    S1:E5

    Huell Howser spends this episode travelling to beautiful, natural locations in California along highway 395. Locations of note include the California Poppy Preserve, Big Pine, Yosemite, and Mono Lake.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  4. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #4 - Trees

    Loading...
    S1:E30

    The theme of this episode is trees! Join Huell as he looks back at two episodes showcasing the beauty of tree-themed roadside attractions, Trees of Mystery and Circus Trees.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  5. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #5 - Coachella Music Festival

    Loading...
    S1:E41

    This episode is all about the world renowned Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio. Each spring, this annual three day event attracts over 160,000 music lovers from literally all over the world and we were invited to attend the 2008 festivities for a behind the scenes look at how it all fits together. Not only did Huell hear some amazing music and see some amazing artists’ creations, but he also experienced first hand the positive energy of this festival. This is a first class event in every way its well organized, well run and the people are all first rate.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  6. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #6 - Desert Adventures

    Loading...
    S1:E42

    In this special, Huell goes back and revisits episode featuring some of his desert adventures. The first half of this special Huell travels to the Salton Sea to get an up close and personal look at “mudpots,” which only occur three places in the US. The second half features the 1996 footage of local desert resident Leonard Knight and his land art creation, Salvation Mountain, near Slab City. As an update to the story of Salvation Mountain, Huell catches up with Leonard Knight to see what else he’s added to Salvation Mountain.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of California's Gold

    READ
  8. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #7 - John Muir Special

    Loading...
    S1:E43

    Join Huell on this special episode where he meets and speaks to John Muir*, the Scottish-American naturalist who was an early advocate for the preservation and conservation of the America’s beautiful wilderness areas. John Muir also founded the Sierra Club, a prominent conservation organization. Huell gets the rare opportunity to speak with the man himself and learn about his life, his philosophy, and his passion for Yosemite and the environment. In the second half of this special, Huell visits John Muir’s house in Martinez, California and takes an educational tour and learns the history of the house.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  9. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #8 - Farallon Island

    Loading...
    S1:E44

    Join Huell as he spends the day with the biologists who live on the Farallon Islands and learns about this wild and beautiful place which is just a group of islands and rocks found 27 miles off the coast of San Francisco, known as California’s Galapagos, they make up the the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge. These wild and remote islands are rich with not only flora and fauna, but human history as well.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  10. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #9 - Hearst Ranch

    Loading...
    S1:E45

    Join Huell as he gets a tour of the 80,000 acre Hearst Ranch. He learns about its history and that it is actually still a working ranch… you can even try some Hearst beef!

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  11. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #10 - In-N-Out Burger

    Loading...
    S1:E46

    Huell takes us on an hour-long California’s Gold special which looks at the history of In-N-Out Burger. This is the first time television cameras have ever been allowed to shoot inside a store. And this special also includes an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the In-N-Out Headquarters in Baldwin Park where it all started back in 1948.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  12. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Mount Wilson

    Loading...
    S1:E47

    Founded in December 1904 by George Ellery Hale, Mount Wilson Observatory would quickly rise to dominate astronomy worldwide. The Observatory hosts several of the most technologically advanced facilities in the world and is home to the 100-inch Hooker telescope. In this one-hour special, Huell spends the day at this magnificent location that is not only historic, but plays an important role in California’s scientific research.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  13. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #12 - Kaiser Steel

    Loading...
    S1:E48

    Huell meets the retired employees of Kaiser Steel in Fontana. Built in 1942, the mill supplied steel to the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond during World War II. Although the company closed in 1983, the memories remain in the Kaiser Steel-Fontana Museum, where workers donate their artifacts to an ongoing exhibit. Huell also tours the site today, a working plant now called California Steel Industries.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  14. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #13 - B-2 Bomber Update

    Loading...
    S1:E49

    In this one hour special, Huell takes us back in time to 1997, when he visited Northrop Grumman, where the B-2 Stealth Bomber is built. Huell then goes to Edwards Air Force Base to take a look at the B-2 close up. What made this episode so special was that Huell and Luis were the first media representatives to be allowed in the cockpit of this top secret plane.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  15. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Living History

    Loading...
    S2:E1

    Join Huell as he spends an entire episode around living history. First, he experiences a recreation of everyday life in a 19th century Russian community at Fort Ross State Historic Park. Next, he sails aboard the state’s official tall ship, the Californian, and see for yourself the site where Sir Francis Drake left a plate of brass when he landed on our California shore.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  16. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #15 - L.A. Adventures

    Loading...
    S2:E6

    This adventure is all about Los Angeles! Huell’s adventure begins at the La-Brea Tar Pits and continues through the futuristic-looking Theme Room, also known as the Encounter Restaurant at LAX; then, Huell locates a buried bridge on the campus of UCLA; Next, he finds every conceivable food item, from fruit to cactus leaves, at the bustling Grand Central Market in downtown. Finally, join Huell as he watches the harvesting of grapefruit from a 100-year-old tree in Little Tokyo.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  17. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #16 - Preserving the Past

    Loading...
    S2:E7

    Huell takes a tour of the little, quaint town of Locke, founded and settled by Chinese immigrants on the Sacramento River Delta; then he hears ancient Cahuilla Indian bird songs sung by members of the Cahuilla tribe, and participates in a threshing bee and antique engine show in Vista, CA, featuring old farm vehicles and machinery.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  18. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Traditions

    Loading...
    S2:E8

    Join Huell and 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 Park Band, the oldest and only year-round municipal park band performing in the country.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  19. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #18 - Trains

    Loading...
    S2:E9

    Huell is ready to celebrate train travel at Railfair ’91 at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento, and ride the rails at Railtown State Historic Park in Jamestown in the scenic Mother Lode foothill country.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  20. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Natural Wonders

    Loading...
    S2:E11

    In this episode, Huell searches for the tallest, the prettiest, and the rockiest natural wonders in California. Join Huell and hike to the world’s tallest tree in Redwood National Park with a group of fifth graders from a nearby school; admire fields ablaze with golden color of California’s official state flower, the Golden Poppy, at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster; and climb to the top of magnificent Morro Rock for a beautiful view of Morro Bay.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  21. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Lost Sierra

    Loading...
    S2:E12

    Join Huell and travel to Downieville, nestled high in the Sierra Nevada mountains, to see what makes this little town so special. Explore a town that stood during the years of the California Gold Rush; meet the staff on the Mountain Messenger, the state’s oldest weekly newspaper; and watch a demonstration of the long, heavy wooden skis worn by the gold miners in the mid-1800s.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  22. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Buried Treasure

    Loading...
    S3:E1

    No description available

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  23. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Jazz Special

    Loading...
    S3:E7

    Join Huell Howser as he spends a day in Sacramento, California for the Jazz Jubilee.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  24. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Water Under Pressure

    Loading...
    S4:E1

    No description available

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  25. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Weedpatch

    Loading...
    S5:E1

    No description available

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  26. NaN/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Lighthouse

    Loading...
    S6:E1

    No description available

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A

Best Episodes Summary

"Living History" is the best rated episode of "California's Gold". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/6/1991. This episode scored NaN points higher than the second highest rated, "Inaugural Special".