Sonora, CA…The Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau worked with National Geographic’s Digital Nomad, Robert Reid, on a feature of Yosemite Gold Country this autumn using Yosemite National Park’s milestone anniversary as a news peg. Robert Reid, an award-winning travel writer who is a member of National Geographic Travel’s Editorial Council as well as a contributing Digital Nomad columnist, spent eight days crisscrossing the county in late October to get a feel of the size, scope and one-of-a-kind destinations and scenery available. Courtney Aviation provided an aerial introduction of the county. Along his tour, he visited the ancient Bennett Juniper Tree (considered to be 4,000 years old, with its own caretaker) as well as the Columns of the Giants and Trail of the Gargoyles, which piqued Reid’s interest while researching the trip, calling the area names a “possible episode out of the Walking Dead series.”

Above Is A Video Update With Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau’s Executive Director Lisa Mayo

He hiked and fly-fished with Yosemite Outfitters in the Pinecrest area and camped in Yosemite back country camping with YExplore. He poked around the picturesque towns of Sonora, Jamestown and Groveland, and went back in time in the late 1800’s in the state historic parks of Railtown 1987 and Columbia State Park. Along with a videographer assigned from National Geographic for inclusion in another series on Road Trips, Reid also caught the local festival scene, stayed in a variety of lodging, toured Highway 108 and then revisited Yosemite National Park on his own.

Promotions for Tuolumne County in November included five Facebook posts (3.6 million), eight Twitter posts (2.2 million) and one Instagram photo reaching an audience of 6.6 million). Reid shared his inspiring and authoritative digital content on the county via Digital Nomad, an editorial platform on NationalGeographic.com that includes major social media promotions from @natgeotravel to 11 million fans. NationalGeographic.com reaches about 24 million monthly visitors throughout the world and 12 million in the United States.

Reid’s photo of Yosemite from the Highway 120 entrance, posted on National Geographic’s Instagram had 91,000 likes the first day. The entire coverage can be viewed at: http://digitalnomad.nationalgeographic.com/ The county’s website, www.yosemitegoldcountry.com will also feature the articles and photos. In addition, Tuolumne County ran an accompanying ad campaign on the Digital Nomad platform in November reaching users in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, as well as throughout California and Oregon.

Additional region and state promotion of Tuolumne County:

The county’s first television commercial aired this autumn in the Sacramento and Central Valley area on Fox News, Bravo, History Channel, TBS and others. Tuolumne County and its significance to Yosemite National Park was promoted in the state’s tourism publication Year in Review. Executive Director Lisa Mayo was one of eight tourism industry leaders featured in the Visit California publication. She referenced growing up with Yosemite in her “back yard”.

About Journalist Robert Reid:

Robert Reid has appeared regularly on CNN, NBC’s “TODAY”, MSNBC, NPR and Fox News to discuss travel trends, and has written guide books for destinations like Myanmar, Columbia and New York City. He is the U.S. Travel editor for Lonely Planet and has been featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

About Tuolumne County:

Tuolumne (rhymes with “follow me”) County, located 133 miles or 214 km east of San Francisco, is a pristine, scenic expanse reaching into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Gold was discovered in Tuolumne County in 1848, setting off the major gold rush of 1949. The main highways leading to the picturesque drive from the San Francisco and East Bay Area are Highways 108 and 120 from the west and Highway 49 from the north. The State Highway 120 entrance to Yosemite National Park is considered the “front door” of the park for the San Francisco Greater Bay Area. The Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite National Park, and other surrounding areas provide natural vistas and settings for hiking, water skiing, horseback riding, rafting, camping, snowmobiling, boating, snow skiing, fishing and other outdoor activities. Seven restored historic hotels, four golf courses, numerous and varied dining establishments, historic saloons, five wineries and hard cider distillery, train rides, casino, seven museums, two state historic parks, five live theaters and many bed-and-breakfast inns are among the many other attributes that make the county a year round vacation destination. www.YosemiteGoldCountry.com