El Dorado County is centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. El Dorado can be reached via two major highways. Highway 50 was the first official U.S. highway in California and it separates the county from west, El Dorado Hills to the east, South Lake Tahoe.
Highway 49 is the oldest highway in the western United States and it winds north and south through the county. At the crossroads of these two highways is the historic Gold Rush city of Placerville.