A Summary To Help Resolve Frequently Asked Questions On Our History California's Catholic Worker Farm

When the USA turned 200 years old, a small handful of people from St. Martin's Catholic Worker (CW) in San Francisco started a farm with the blessing of their CW community. These lucky seven souls chose Calaveras County, about four hours by car from San Francisco, because of the land in these foothills being apparently NOT polluted with pesticides like "all of the valley land in California". More official info can be found on the CW Farm website.

California's first Catholic Worker Farm is 80 acres large, land which is mostly oak and pine forest. (Other CW communities in CA do gardening, and Half Moon Bay's Coastside CW has access to farmland.) Public roads run through the land to other people's private property off-site. The founders made sure that no hunting would be allowed on this land. It's NOT a vegetarian or vegan farm--in fact pigs, chickens, goats and other livestock have been raised here for the benefit of humans throughout the years. The 80 acres of California's Catholic Worker farm can be found 4 miles from Arnold (hiking), 5 miles from Avery (by air) and 6 miles (driving) from the officially designated hamlet of Sheep Ranch. If you're not hiking or in a hover-craft (if you've got WHEELS) then Sheep Ranch is the best route to get here. The hamlet of Sheep Ranch has no traffic lights, and no stop signs, two useful "yield" signs, AND more sheep than people, so those non-humans are allowed to roam free in the streets. The whole county has only one incorporated city--Angels Camp. Even the county seat (San Andreas) is NOT an incorporated city, yet does have the county hospital (and DMV, CHP, etc.). We are remote, but worth the trip!

The Catholic Worker Farm is 110 miles from Livermore's Nuclear Laboratory.
The farm is 5 miles from Avery (13 miles by car), 6 miles from Sheep Ranch, and 17 miles (4 miles by foot) from Arnold.
The following are useful driving directions for you to follow to get here:
Directions from Bay Area to Farm
Take 580 towards Stockton. Hwy becomes Hwy 205 and then Hwy 5. Entering Stockton, take Crosstown freeway, Hwy 5 to Hwy 4. Stay left and go on Hwy 99 towards Sacramento.
Take Kettleman Lane exit off in LODI, staying right. Continue on to Hwy 88, and then turn left on Hwy 88, going through Lockeford. Hwy 88 becomes Hwy 12, so keep on forward (do not go to IONE); go to San Andreas!
In San Andreas, the road is both Hwy 12 and Hwy 49. Turn left (eastward) on Mountain. Ranch Rd. (near the far end of town-the hospital and CHP are this way so look for those signs).
Go 8 miles to Mountain Ranch, where you'll see a fueling station (open 7am to 5pm) and Senders Market.
Turn right (at CDF fire station--after another mile beyond Senders) onto the Sheep Ranch Road, and proceed 7 miles to Sheep Ranch.
Once there make a complete lefty U turn (around the Sheep Ranch Volunteer Fire station bldg.) instead of going deeper into Sheep Ranch. Keep LEFT, entering Armstrong Road (not a through road).
Proceed 6 miles on this road, not taking any branches off to the right. The addresses of the other residences are a bit confusing, because they are not always Armstrong addresses, so they might fool you into thinking you have already gone past our address which is 16777 Armstrong (a.k.a. 6.8 miles from Sheep Ranch). So use your odometer religiously, by ensuring you go less than 7 miles from Sheep Ranch, but more than 6 miles from Sheep Ranch.
When the pavement ends (just after the mailbox shelter on the right), proceed forward a mile on the gravel/dirt road, crossing a narrow wooden bridge, ignoring roads off to left and right.
The gravel road becomes a rocky hill along the way. As you reach the crest of this hill, you'll see the entrance to the farm ahead of you (if there's enough sunlight). If you miss it, it will be on your left. There's our wooden sign "Catholic Worker Farm" and our other wooden sign "Earth Abides" and our wooden peace pole (with four languages). Go downhill on that entrance, continuing forward and passing the multiple wooden signs at the fork in the road. Pass them so that they are on your left. Go uphill until you see the sign for Catherine’s House, passing the meadow gardens on your left and further uphill to Catherine's House on your right. Parking is behind the house.

Cell phones do not usually work from San Andreas on back into the hills. The number at the house is 209-728-8271 if you have to call from a friendly local person's house or from San Andreas to let us know you are that close.


Directions from Angels Camp, Arnold, or Murphys to Farm

When on Highway 4, go 7 miles from Murphys, or 4 miles from Arnold, until you are at AVERY, CA, which is between Arnold and Murphys on Highway 4. Avery has a US Post Office pretty much across the street from the Avery-Sheep Ranch Road, which dead-ends at Highway 4. Therefore, if you are coming from Murphys or Arnold, simply go to Avery, and turn West on the Avery-Sheep Ranch Road, which is the only direction you can turn onto that road.
From the intersection of Avery-SheepRanch Road and Highway 4, travel 6 miles to the hamlet of Sheep Ranch. (Some people may wish to take their own special route from Murphys to Sheep Ranch, instead of going through Avery.) During that 6-mile stretch from Avery, stick to the RIGHT choices (not taking any intersections to the LEFT when they appear to confound you with poor signage). The first poorly signed intersection you ignore is Fullen Road, and it's nearly a forward choice in the Y-in-the-road so it feels more like a right turn than an ignoring of a left turn. That challenge comes 2 miles after leaving Avery. The next challenge is a bit easier (especially because the road signs are better) at the next Y-in-the-road. That intersection clearly says "Murphys" one way (the back-road to Murphys) and "Sheep Ranch" the other way--the RIGHT choice at this intersection. From that point it's only three miles to Sheep Ranch. The first two miles from that point are downhill, to the small river-bridge, then a mile uphill. When you get to the top, you will make a RIGHT-handed U-turn onto Armstrong Road. If you miss that opportunity, then you will accidentally be going forward 0.1 miles to Sheep Ranch's Fire Station, at which point you say, "oops" and turn around back that same 0.1 mile to maintain your ability to be ON Armstrong Rd.
Once you've made it to Sheep Ranch, PROCEED 6 miles on Armstrong road, not taking any branches off to the right. The addresses of the other residences are a bit confusing, because they are not always Armstrong addresses, so they might fool you into thinking you have already gone past our address which is 16777 Armstrong (a.k.a. 6.8 miles from Sheep Ranch). So use your odometer religiously, by ensuring you go less than 7 miles from Sheep Ranch, but more than 6 miles from Sheep Ranch.
When the pavement ends (just after the mailbox shelter on the right), proceed forward a mile on the gravel/dirt road, crossing a narrow wooden bridge, ignoring roads off to left and right.
The gravel road becomes a rocky hill along the way. As you reach the crest of this hill, you'll see the entrance to the farm ahead of you (if there's enough sunlight). If you miss it, it will be on your left. There's our wooden sign "Catholic Worker Farm" and our other wooden sign "Earth Abides" and our wooden peace pole (with four languages). Go downhill on that entrance, continuing forward and passing the multiple wooden signs at the fork in the road. Follow the RED signs for Catherine's House, passing the multiple signs on your left. Go uphill until you see reach Catherine’s House, passing the meadow gardens on your left and further uphill to Catherine's House on your right (ignoring the signs for Pace Domi & Casa Tierra). Parking is behind the house.






In 2001 Chuck and Beth's house was completed, and named after Beth's mother, Catherine. It's now "St. Catherine's House", named for Catherine of Sienna in addition to Beth's mom. Functioning to host gatherings for work parties and PRIMARILY for folks on the AIDS Retreats or other private retreats. When Catherine's House got built it came with solar power and propane power. In 2007 the farm became fully solar-powered. We have always operated on the generosity of our supporters and the Almighty Love working through many channels to create and maintain this place. Recognizing the abundance from which the Creator brings forth gifts for all creation, including every human being, we try to follow that justice-filled economic model, called "Sabbath Economics" by many radical Christians. Our conscientious dependence upon God's kindness will help us thrive, if we simply aim to do Her will by sharing freely in this anarchist commune and beyond.







Farm?! WHERE Is The Chearcus?