Towns on the 4

Down the hill to up the hill. Pick a town for its events this week, the venues we track there, and what it's actually like.

• Copperopolis997 ftCopperopolis sits at about 1,000 ft on Highway 4, roughly 20 minutes west of Angels Camp. The Square at Copper Valley (Tipsy Frog Wine Bar, Griff's BBQ, Gold Dust Pizza & Moe's Tavern, Bandit's) is the social hub, and there are 12 Tesla Superchargers at 100 Town Square Rd, the only fast EV charging in the immediate area.
• Angels Camp1,300 ftAngels Camp is the only incorporated city in Calaveras County (pop 3,667) and the practical hub for everyone on the 4. Save Mart, Calaveras Lumber, Adventist Health, and Mike's Pizza, all on South Main. It's also Frogtown: the Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee runs the third weekend of May and has been jumping frogs since 1928.
• Murphys2,100 ftMurphys is the wine country stop on the way up the 4. Fifteen minutes below Arnold, about an hour from Stockton, and the place most out-of-towners picture when they hear Calaveras.
• Avery3,389 ftAvery sits on Highway 4 at 3,389 feet, about 10 minutes west of Arnold and 15 east of Murphys. Tiny CDP, population 636. The Historic Avery Hotel (built 1851, oldest continuously operating hotel in Calaveras County) and Howard's Mystic Saloon are the headline stops, with Day-O Espresso for the morning and JC Power Equipment quietly running the small-engine repair for the whole corridor.
• White Pines3,907 ftWhite Pines is the 26-acre county lake and old Blagen Mill site off Blagen Road, sharing a ZIP with Arnold but operating as its own residential pocket and the corridor's main free-recreation hub.
• Arnold4,000 ftArnold sits at 4,000 feet on Highway 4, four miles from Calaveras Big Trees State Park and 30 minutes below Bear Valley. It's where Hinterhaus Distilling, Giant Burger (since 1968), Bistro Espresso, and Blue Lake Springs all live, and where most of the corridor's year-round community actually is.
• Dorrington4,800 ftDorrington is a tiny historic stop on Highway 4 at about 4,760 feet, two miles west of Camp Connell and directly adjacent to the Big Trees Village residential community. The Lube Room Saloon and the Dorrington Hotel sit next door to each other at 3431 Hwy 4, and that's most of the town — but the Lube Room food (11 oz fish & chips, chili with a serious cornbread, two-handed burgers) and beer garden are the actual reason to come up.
• Camp Connell5,000 ftCamp Connell is essentially the Camp Connell General Store, founded in 1928 by Jack and Noreen Connell at 4036 Old Hwy 4. It's a grocery, a Chevron, a cafe, and a 1.48-acre Beer Garden with a stage along San Antonio Creek.
• Bear Valley7,000 ftBear Valley Mountain Resort sits at the summit of Hwy 4 with 1,680 skiable acres, 75 trails, 9 lifts, a base elevation of about 6,600 ft, and a summit around 8,500 ft. Season runs late November through mid-April, the Bear Valley Music Festival anchors the summer (2026 dates: July 17 to August 2), and Bear Valley Adventure Company, the village outfitter at the Hwy 4 turnoff, fills the rest of the calendar with guided hikes, trail days, and boat and bike rentals.