Tree Removal in Coloma

Everybody learns this one in school. Sutter's Mill, Coloma, a January day in 1848 (the 24th), and James Marshall sees something shiny. Gold. The rush was on. More than a century later, July 4, 1961, the feds made the town a National Historic Landmark District.

Today it's small. Coloma had 521 people at the 2020 census. It's about 36 miles northeast of Sacramento, down low at 764 feet, right on the South Fork American River. Rafting brings in a lot of the local money.

River lots can make for tricky tree work:

• Trees on a slope above a house or a road.
• Big trees by the river with soft, wet ground under them.
• Narrow roads where a big truck or a crane can't easily fit.

Bring these up when the pro comes out. They change how the job gets done and what it costs.

Coloma is a historic district, and Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park sits at its center. If your property is next to the park or has an old structure on it, be careful where things fall. Tell the pro what's on the ground before the first cut.

Coloma is unincorporated county land. So the county's oak rule applies to native oaks, and the county's vegetation code applies to fire clearing around buildings.

Out here, the space right around your house counts. El Dorado County Fire's advice for the closest zone:

• Cover attic and eave vents with 1/8 inch metal mesh to keep embers out.
• Fix loose or missing shingles.
• Clear stuff stored under decks and porches.

Then work outward: limb trees up, clear brush, mow grass.

Access is the wild card here. A tree that's easy to reach in Cameron Park might be a slow, careful job on a canyon slope. Guide ranges:

Sources: This Old House tree removal guide (updated March 2026); Thumbtack land clearing guide (October 2026).

Ask for a site visit before any price. A phone quote for a canyon tree isn't worth much.

The name goes back to the Nisenan people, whose word Cullumah means beautiful. The first post office, in 1849, spelled it Culloma. By 1851 it was Coloma.

One early settler, Silas Sanderson, went on to become the 7th Chief Justice of California. Another, Nancy Gooch, was one of the first Black women to succeed in California. Some folks call Coloma a ghost town now, since old civic buildings like the jail were left to decay.

Your road name, and whether a pickup can reach the tree. Whether the tree leans toward the house, the road or the river. Any old building or wall nearby. Two or three phone photos help a lot, too. With that, the pro can tell you on the visit what it takes, instead of coming back twice.

See Lotus tree removal, Gold Hill tree removal and Pilot Hill tree removal. Tree over the house? Read trees close to the house. All towns: service areas.