SeeCalifornia.com

As beautiful Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (PA) prepares for the onslaught of travelers arriving for the annual Groundhog Day Celebration on February 2nd and festival Feb.1-3, another place approx. 2,500 miles distance is gearing up for its lesser known, but equally interesting celebration to herald the anticipated arrival of Spring, as predicted by a furry critter. Groundhog Fever in Quincy, California pays homage to the shadow of Marmota monax, also known as a woodchuck, a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Don’t worry, you won’t be tested on this.

What you will be tested on is finding your way to Quincy where the Feb.2, 2019 celebration includes all sorts of food, fun and antics, similar to the long-standing PA festival which officially came about on Feb.2, 1887. Read more about Groundhog Day…>

Where’s Quincy, CA? Northern Californians know it a lot better than SoCal residents but if you’re familiar with Plumas County, you’re in the right place. Quincy, the county seat, is “Where the Sierras meet the Cascades.” At an elevation of 3,432 feet in the High Sierras, the census-designated place has approx. one-third the population of its Eastern counterpart’s 6,000 residents (swelling to 20,000 visitors on Groundhog weekend.)  Quincy is not expecting that many people, as seen in the photo of its event taking place next to the Courthouse.

Another celebration in Plumas County isn’t so kind to the ground squirrel family when Cedarville Squirrel Roundup arrives in March. It’s a hunting event!