Calaveras County

County in east-central California, USA, in the Sierra Nevada, along the Mother Lode and partly in the Stanislaus National Forest; area 2,644 sq km/1,021 sq mi; population (1990) 32,000. It is bounded by the Mokelumne River to the north and by the Stanislaus River to the south. The Calaveras River rises in the county. San Andreas (population (1990) 2,100) is its seat. Tourism, winter sports, hunting, fishing, lumbering, livestock raising, and cement production are important.

Immortalized by Mark Twain, who wrote of events in Angels Camp, the county includes old goldmining towns, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and several lakes.