El Dorado County's population has grown as Greater Sacramento has expanded into the region.

In the county's high altitude eastern end at Lake Tahoe, environmental awareness and environmental protection initiatives have grown along with the population since the 1960 Winter Olympics, hosted at the former Squaw Valley Ski Resort in neighboring Placer County.

What is now known as El Dorado County has been home to the Maidu, Nisenan, Washoe, and Miwok Indigenous American nations for centuries.

The Placerville Mountain Democrat, California's oldest surviving newspaper, serves El Dorado County.

[11][12] It initially burned slowly, but exploded in size on August 16 due to high winds.

Starting on August 27, winds drove the fire rapidly east towards the Lake Tahoe Basin.

By August 30, it had reached Echo Summit, less than five miles (8.0 km) from South Lake Tahoe.

[16] The county, owing to its location in the Sierra Nevada, consists of rolling hills and mountainous terrain.

Across the Sierra crest to the west lies the majority of the county, referred to as the "western slope."

The Eldorado National Forest comprises a significant portion (approximately 43%) of the county's land area, primarily on the western slope.

[33] The largest growth in the county has come in El Dorado Hills where the population grew by 24,092 residents to a total of 42,108 since 2000.

Concerns included the threat of U.S. Forest Service road closures and traffic roundabouts.

[37] On February 19, 2013, 14 members of the El Dorado County Grand Jury resigned, forcing Supervising Judge Steven Bailey to dissolve it.

El Dorado County's seat, Placerville, is located 45 miles from Sacramento, the state's capital.

They promote an unproven theory that the county "is technically not a legitimate piece of California and is instead 'other property' of Congress".

[41] The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

[48] In 2003, after construction of the Oak Ridge High School (El Dorado Hills) soccer field, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found that some student athletes, coaches and school workers had received substantial exposures.