Arnold is a pine-shaded mountain town strung out along Highway 4 at around 1,200 metres, high enough to have left the oak and grass of the Sierra foothills behind and low enough to stay open all year. It is the last proper town on the climb toward Ebbetts Pass, and the sensible place to fill the tank and eat something before the road turns serious.
The great attraction is just up the road. Calaveras Big Trees State Park protects two groves of giant sequoias, and it was here, in 1852, that a hunter named Augustus Dowd stumbled on one of these trees and brought the world's attention to them. What followed was not to the credit of the age: the very tree he had found was cut down, and its stump was used as a dance floor. You can still stand on it. The North Grove trail is an easy loop of about two kilometres through the giants and makes a fine leg-stretch in riding boots.
Further back down the hill, the old gold-rush country begins. Murphys, a short ride west, was a mining camp in the 1840s and 1850s and is now a pretty main street of stone buildings and tasting rooms for the Calaveras County wineries, which have grown a good reputation for Zinfandel and Rhône grapes. This is also the county of Mark Twain's story about the celebrated jumping frog, and the frog-jumping contest at the county fair still runs every year.
From Arnold the road climbs steadily through mixed forest of sugar pine, ponderosa and cedar, with long, smooth sweepers and the occasional logging truck. It is a pleasant, gradual warm-up for what is to come. Beyond Bear Valley and Lake Alpine, Highway 4 narrows, loses its centre line and starts to wind tightly over the crest, so this is where the easy part ends. In winter the road is closed beyond the ski area at Bear Valley, and even in early summer the high section may not be open yet.
Arnold has fuel, groceries, cafes and diners, and plenty of cabins for rent. The air smells of pine resin and wood smoke, and evenings can be cool even in August. On summer weekends the road fills with cars heading for the lakes, so an early start pays off if you want the climb to yourself.