Calaveras County located in the Gold Country in California. The county seat is San Andreas. Calaveras Big Trees State Park, a preserve of Giant Sequoia trees, is located in the county. The uncommon gold telluride mineral calaverite is named for this county. Calaveras was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 and takes its name from the Calaveras River. The county has a total area of 1,037 mi² and 98% of it is land and 2% of it is water. In 2000 there were 40,554 people, 16,469 households, and 11,742 families residing in the county.