CA
El Dorado County Neighborhoods, From Folsom Lake to Lake Tahoe
El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs and Placerville, east of Sacramento along Highway 50.
The Human Thomas Guide
Which Sacramento personality are you?
Take the Find Your Fit quiz: how you want your Saturday to feel, matched to neighborhoods with real prices.
Living in El Dorado County
El Dorado County neighborhoods climb with Highway 50. The freeway leaves Folsom at El Dorado Hills, passes Cameron Park and Shingle Springs, runs through Placerville with three traffic signals, and keeps rising past Camino and Pollock Pines toward Echo Summit and Lake Tahoe. Downtown Placerville sits near 1,867 feet. Pollock Pines sits near 3,980. South Lake Tahoe is above 6,200.
Elevation shapes daily life here more than most buyers expect. Placerville averages a July high near 93 degrees and about 2.7 inches of snow a year. Pollock Pines, 13 miles farther east, averages about 63 inches of snow. Two homes 20 minutes apart can mean a foothill summer or a mountain winter.
The county formed in 1850, and only Placerville, the county seat, and South Lake Tahoe are incorporated cities. The rest, El Dorado Hills included, is governed by the county.
People who moved here tend to describe the cost first. On the Berkeley Parents Network forum in July 2023, one poster said El Dorado Hills costs a bit more than Placerville but nothing close to the Bay Area. A local neighborhood guide describes El Dorado Hills as more of a dinner-and-drinks town than a late-night one, and that matches what the county offers.
Talk With Maggie About El Dorado County
How Surroundings Serves El Dorado County
Surroundings is built for convenience: one call, one team and one plan for the home and the loan. Maggie B. Hopkins is both the real estate broker and a licensed mortgage broker, so you get competitive pricing shopped across a network of approved lenders and nothing gets lost in a handoff. Give yourself options, and get a quote from us to compare. Foothill purchases often turn on questions a lender has to answer before an agent can. A FAIR Plan fire policy changes the monthly payment. Mello-Roos and HOA dues in El Dorado Hills change what a buyer qualifies for. A rural parcel's well and septic system can shape the loan conditions.
Here is how the work runs in this county:
- Comparable sales by town, never by county. A county median hides the spread. Resideline's October 2026 figures put the median closing price at $900,000 in El Dorado Hills and $448,500 in Placerville.
- An insurance quote early in escrow. Buyers in the foothills and up the hill need coverage lined up before contingencies come off.
- The tax bill before the offer. Special taxes and HOA dues go into the payment you see on day one.
Maggie has been licensed in real estate since 2006 and has 23 years in loans and real estate combined. She is a Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®), a Certified Probate & Trust Specialist and a Certified VA Loan Specialist. Already have a lender you like? You are always free to bring your own. Surroundings works either way.
El Dorado County Neighborhoods & Communities
Each town on the western slope has a different reason people choose it. West to east:
- El Dorado Hills. The county's largest community grew from 42,108 people in 2010 to 50,547 in 2020. It began in the 1960s as planned villages, and Serrano later added about 3,500 acres of gated neighborhoods, trails and a private country club. Blackstone and The Promontory near Folsom Lake followed. Many buyers here are trading up in El Dorado County from a first home.
- Cameron Park. Larry Cameron bought about 5,000 acres in the 1950s for ranching, then housing with a lake, a golf course and a small airport. The Cameron Park Airpark still has homes with taxiway access to a 4,051-foot runway.
- Shingle Springs and Rescue. Larger lots and open space define this stretch. Rescue's land is mostly farmland, vineyards and ranches. The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians is headquartered in Shingle Springs and operates Red Hawk Casino.
- Placerville and Diamond Springs. Placerville began as Dry Diggin's and took the name Hangtown in 1849. Its Gold Rush-era Main Street and older hillside homes sit at some of the county's lower price points, which is why first-time buyers in El Dorado County often start here. Diamond Springs was settled in 1848 and produced a 25-pound gold nugget.
- Camino and Pollock Pines. Camino sits among Apple Hill orchards at about 3,000 to 3,500 feet. Pollock Pines began as a lumber town and sits next to Sly Park and Jenkinson Lake.
- Fair Play and Somerset. South County wine country runs on rural acreage and small wineries at 2,000 to 3,000 feet.
- South Lake Tahoe and Meyers. The lake side of the county sits over Echo Summit and runs as a separate market, which matters for anyone looking at investment property in El Dorado County.
El Dorado County Housing Market & Home Types
The California Department of Finance put El Dorado County's 2024 median single-family price at $684,000, about 79% of the statewide figure of $867,000. The county is also holding its population while California loses residents. Net migration was about minus 20 people in 2024, against minus 62,700 for the state.
Town by town, the market looks very different. Resideline's numbers, updated October 3, 2026:
- El Dorado Hills: $900,000 median closing price over 455 closings in the six months to October 2026, with the middle half between $740,000 and $1.27 million. Homes averaged about 19 days to contract, and about 98% of recent closings were single-family homes.
- Placerville: $448,500 median over 160 closings in the 12 months to October 2026, about $293 a square foot, and about 42 days to contract.
- South Lake Tahoe: $636,750 median over 238 closings in the six months to October 2026, at about $469 a square foot.
Housing stock follows the land. El Dorado Hills is mostly planned single-family neighborhoods, many with HOA dues and Mello-Roos special taxes. Cameron Park mixes tracts, horse property and the Airpark. Rescue, Shingle Springs and Fair Play lean toward acreage. Pollock Pines has mountain homes among the pines. If you own here and want a number, start with a home valuation in El Dorado County built from your own town's sales.
Apple Hill, Wine Country and a Night Out
Apple Hill began when pear blight in the early 1960s pushed Camino growers into apples. The Apple Hill Growers Association formed in 1964 with 16 ranches and grew to about 50. High Hill Ranch has been selling pies, donuts and fritters since 1960. Farms open around Labor Day and run into November.
The El Dorado wine region earned its AVA in 1983, and most of its vineyards sit between about 1,200 and 3,500 feet, among the highest in California. Boeger Winery on Carson Road opened as the county's first winery after Prohibition. Fair Play became its own AVA in 2001, where Skinner Vineyards, Gwinllan Estate and Saluti Cellars pour on the hillsides. Breweries include Jack Russell Farm Brewery in Camino and Camerado Brewing in Cameron Park.
Placerville's Main Street carries Buttercup Pantry, open more than 30 years, Sweetie Pie's in an 1865 house, and Hog Wild Bar-B-Que. In El Dorado Hills Town Center, Milestone has a lakeside patio and Vacanza Romana makes pasta by hand. Imagination Theater stages live shows at the fairgrounds, with Annie running November 28 to December 20, 2026. The Hangtime Music Festival brings Leftover Salmon and The Devil Makes Three to the same fairgrounds October 16 to 18, 2026. Golfers have two private clubs: Serrano Country Club, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design from 1996, and Cameron Park Country Club, open since 1963.
Gold Rush History, the River and the Road to Tahoe
James Marshall found gold at Coloma on January 24, 1848, and the Gold Rush started on the South Fork of the American River. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park now covers 576 acres of historic Coloma. The same river draws about 120,000 rafters in most years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The El Dorado Trail runs 35.8 miles from El Dorado Hills to Camino on old rail lines, paved for about 8.5 miles between Camino and Placerville. Folsom Lake forms the northern edge of El Dorado Hills. Up the hill, Heavenly sits at the east end of South Lake Tahoe, and Sierra-at-Tahoe reopened in December 2022 after the Caldor Fire burned about 80% of the resort.
The El Dorado Hills Guide
El Dorado Hills has a guide of its own, from Serrano and Town Center to the Folsom Lake side: El Dorado Hills homes, prices and neighborhoods.
Talk With Us About El Dorado County Neighborhoods
Choosing among El Dorado County neighborhoods starts with two questions: how far up Highway 50 you want to live, and what the full monthly cost looks like once taxes, HOA dues and insurance are in. Maggie can answer both, and if Surroundings also arranges your financing, both answers come from the same desk. If you are starting from the house you own, read about selling your home in El Dorado County. If you are weighing the next county over, see Sacramento County and Placer County. When you are ready, book a call with Maggie.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which El Dorado County town is closest to Sacramento?
El Dorado Hills is closest. It sits on Highway 50 at the Sacramento County line next to Folsom, and a local guide puts it about 40 minutes from downtown Sacramento. Cameron Park and Shingle Springs are the next exits east.
Is El Dorado County less expensive than the rest of California?
Yes, on the county median. The Department of Finance put the 2024 median single-family price at $684,000, about 79% of the statewide $867,000. Inside the county the range is wide, from a $448,500 median in Placerville to $900,000 in El Dorado Hills in Resideline's October 2026 numbers.
Do I need to plan for fire insurance in El Dorado County?
Yes. The California Department of Insurance listed El Dorado among the 10 counties with the most homes in high or very high fire-risk areas. Get an insurance quote early in escrow. The Placerville Fire Safe Council notes most insurers offer a discount in a recognized Firewise community.
What school districts serve El Dorado Hills and Placerville?
El Dorado Hills is served by the Rescue Union, Buckeye Union and Latrobe elementary school districts and the El Dorado Union High School District. Most of Placerville is in the Placerville Union School District for the younger grades, with high school in the El Dorado Union High School District. Confirm the assigned school with the district directly.
Buying in El Dorado County
The method
How we do it in El Dorado County
Explore more of Sacramento
Ready to make your move with Surroundings?