Written by Michael Kay, The Union Democrat October 22, 2009

A little more than a week remains to nominate Calaveras County’s best spots for a National Geographic-sponsored virtual and print map of top Sierra Nevada destinations.

Just 12 county locations have been flagged on the map, which aims to direct visitors to the region’s most breath-taking and authentic natural, historical and cultural sites.

A listing on the map, known as the Sierra Nevada Geotourism MapGuide, is open to “basically anything that is distinctive to the region, and is authentic to the Sierra Nevada,” according to the Sierra Business Council, a project sponsor.

Currently listed local sites include established favorites like Calaveras Big Trees State Park and the Arnold Rim Trail, along with two vineyards, a few caverns toured by Cave and Mine Adventures, and the Dorrington Hotel.

Among the lesser known attractions are the Angels Camp RV and Camping Resort and the Middle Bar Bridge in Mokelumne Hill.

Deadline for submission to the Scenic Byways and Yosemite Gateway portion of the project — which includes Calaveras, Amador and Tuolumne counties — is Oct. 31.

Submissions will continue to be accepted after that, but will not be included on the printed map, said Nicole DeJohnge, SBC program director.

National Geographic started developing geotourism maps in 2005, said Jim Dion, associate director of the National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations.

The goal was to encourage “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place,” as their definition of geotourism reads.

“Tourism managed poorly can destroy a place, tourism managed well can bring great benefits,” Dion said.

Since then, maps have been created for places ranging from the greater Yellowstone region and northeast Vermont to areas of Mozambique, Mexico and Peru.

Posted online and linked to by the impressive media network of National Geographic, the maps can be guides to thousands.

According to Dion, the National Geographic’s Web page, which links to the maps, gets 11 million visitors a month.

To take an individual example, the online map for the Crown of the Continent, a vast swathe of land in Montana and the Canadian states of Alberta and British Colombia, receives 20,000 unique hits each month, he said. Even the recently launched Yellowstone map gets almost 5,000 a month.

The Sierra Nevada map may be there soon. The company is spending $100,000 on the map, and similar-sized contributions are expected from partners, Dion said. And remember, it is just two months into a 14-month timeline.

“We’re just really getting started,” he said.

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