Angels Camp is located in the heart of California's Gold Country, made famous by the largest human migration in history. Inspired by the 1849 discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills, people from all over the world traveled here in droves hoping to strike it rich. The first towns were established as temporary tent towns and soon schools, churches and meeting halls sprang up. When the placer gold was exhausted, hard rock mining began. Some of these mines are open for tours today: