The Nevada County Growers Market at the North Star House is held on Saturdays 8am-1pm (April 30th- October 29th).  Grab your basket or canvas grocery basket and stock up on fresh fruit, organic veggies or a bottle of Lucchesi or Montoliva wine.  Once you’ve got some veggies from Willow Springs Farm, Pyramid Farms or Sweet Roots Farm grab a made to order wood fired freshly baked Sierra Mountain Pizza and sit down in the shade and listen to some live music.  And speaking of music, if you enjoy the location of the market, come out and support the Nevada County Land Trust Benefit concert, presented by the Center for The Arts, Aaron Neville will be preforming, tickets on sale here.  For some more information about the two organizations partnering up to help with the North Star House … Read More »

Melony Vance started Gold Country Hiking & Adventures as a way to offer locals and visitors guided tours to some of Nevada County’s wineries.  If you’re looking to sample some of Nevada County’s fabulous wines and don’t want to worry about driving or the details give her a call, she leads tours Friday, Saturday and Sundays.  All we had to do was call and she came and picked us up in front of the Outside Inn.

After we picked up the rest of the tour members we headed to Lucchesi Vineyards in Grass Valley.  Their downtown tasting room is stocked with a great selection of their local wines, but a trip out to their vineyard on View Forever Lane is a real treat, especially when Mario is giving the tour.  He took time out after he’d finished … Read More »

Wendy Van Wagner, owner of In the Kitchen, has been teaching and cooking up fresh food with mainly organic and local ingredients since she returned to her native Nevada City four years ago when she set up her own cooking school and local community kitchen.  Her fresh approach to traditional and non-traditional cooking has taken off in Nevada City, where locals and visitors can take classes ranging from knife basics, canning, sushi rolling, ice cream making and beyond.  Click here for a complete list of the upcoming classes.  When brainstorming with Wendy about how guests at the Outside Inn could take part in her classes Wendy suggested I come try a private cooking class, which can be arranged for anywhere from 4 to 12 people.  My cozy class included some old friends with whom I sliced, diced and tossed to … Read More »

If you’re looking for a secluded, scenic adventure check out Lower Scotts Flat lake.  We went on an amazing lake adventure only ten minutes from the Outside Inn that is totally secret and beautiful with plenty of wildlife. Lower Scotts Flat Lake is formed by the outlet from the dam of Scotts Flat Lake and is acceccisble by a 1 1/2 mile road off of Scotts Flat Road (turn at the Five Mile House on Highway 20).  At the end of a winding dirt road, with signs warning of its danger (all of which are put there by resisdents, not wanting the public to discover what lies below) is a beautiful long lake with a creek at one end and a small dam at the other.  No motor boats are allowed, so we were alone with the herons, geese, ducks, and jumping fish.  We … Read More »

Looking for something to do on Wednesday night?  Stop by the Nevada City Summer Nights street fair between 6pm and 9:30pm.  Live music, fresh food, wine and beer for sale, vendors and plenty of people watching. The kids can bounce on the bouncy castle or eat an ice cream while you catch up with new or old friends.  For a complete list of the live music check out the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce’s website.  Summer nights is July 13th, 20th and 27th this year.

Looking for a shady place to go for a moderate hike or mountain bike ride?  Or looking for a child friendly outdoor activity?  Check out the Pioneer Trail just 5 miles up Highway 20.  Park by the Harmony Ridge Market and head up the hill, for either a short walk or up to 10 miles to the Upper Pioneer Trail (starting at White Cloud Campground).  Stop by the Outside Inn office for a complete map.

The Outside Inn’s free veggie stand is out for the season and already getting a lot of local activity.  The cart is located right in front of the office and offers a local option for extras veggies, to either drop off or pick up someone else’s overflow.  All vegetables are donated, no donations accepted.  Today Allison All stopped by and expressed her gratitude for the veggie cart and said a couple of summers ago she “didn’t have enough money for fresh vegetables” and was able to supplement her diet with free veggies from the cart.  Now that she’s in a better place she feels like it’s her turn to give back and was donating zucchini this morning.  Shortly after Allison stocked the card, Pearl stopped by with her grocery bag and loaded up on a few goodies.  The Outside Inn … Read More »

Blast from the past in our restored motel check out the classic cars at the Outside Inn, 1937 Ford Club Cabrilet, 1958 Corvette, 1932 Ford Hiboy Roadster and a 1955 Buick.

Edwards Crossing of the South Yuba River is a great place to take a hike, ride your mountain bike or in the summer time swim in the swimming holes.  The section of the South Yuba trail starts just to the left of the bridge and heads downstream.  The rolling up and down of the trail provides an excellent opportunity to experience some a peak into the wild and scenic area of the South Yuba River State Park.  Stop by the Outside Inn and we’re more then happy to give you directions, a map or sell you some Technu if you fall in the poison oak.

Happy 4th of July from the Outside Inn!