Murphys is a charming California gold rush town with many historic, well–preserved buildings. It is considered the center of the Sierra wine country, California's oldest and one of the most varied and abundant wine producing region. Main Street Murphys is dotted with boutique shops, gourmet restaurants, and many wine tasting rooms as well as historic homes. The town is divided by a year–round creek with a park, band shell and picnic tables. The area has been embracing the local sustainable food movement and there are several local purveyors of note.

Local activities include the Black Bart community theater, Stevenot Winery's Theater Under the Stars, featuring Shakespeare's plays, and Ironstone Vineyards' summer concert series. Recent acts at Ironstone include Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King Blues Festival, Vince Gill, Los Lobos and others.

Within a short distance is the Bear Valley Ski Resort, currently undergoing a major transformation into a world–class ski destination by its new owners, Intrawest ULC. Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a few minutes up the road, as is biking, camping, hiking, swimming and boating in many mountain lakes as well as the white water rapids of the Stanislaus River.