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Gold Country

Hollywood draws the dreamers and Silicon Valley lures fortune-hunters, but this isn't the first time droves of aspiring young folk have streamed into the Golden State. After a sparkle in the American River caught James Marshall’s eye in 1848, more than 300,000 prospectors from America and abroad started digging for gold in the Sierra foothills. Soon California entered statehood with the official motto 'Eureka' solidifying its place as the land of opportunity.

The miner forty-niners are gone, but a ride along Hwy 49 through sleepy hill towns, past clapboard saloons and oak-lined byways is a journey back to the wild ride that was modern California’s founding: umpteen historical markers tell tales of gold rush violence and banditry. Many travelers hardly hit the brakes while rushing between California’s coasts and mountains, but those who do are rewarded with a taste of the helter-skelter era that kick-started the heartbeat of this state.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Gold Country.

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Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
This state park comprises a fascinating collection of buildings in a bucolic riverside setting at the site of James Marshall's riot-inducing discovery. Buy your ticket at the museum to display on the dashboard, return to the museum for some background, then explore a replica of Sutter's Mill, mosey round the blacksmith's and Chinese store and even try panning for gold. Compared to the stampede of gun-toting, hill-blasting, hell-raising settlers that populate tall tales along Hwy 49, the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is a place of tranquility, with two tragic protagonists in John Sutter and James Marshall. Sutter, who had a fort in Sacramento, partnered with Marshall to build a sawmill on this swift stretch of the American River in 1847. It was Marshall who discovered gold here on January 24, 1848, and though the men tried to keep their findings secret, prospectors from around the world stampeded into town. In one of the ironies of the gold rush, the men who made this discovery died nearly penniless. In another, many of the new immigrants who arrived seeking fortune were indentured, taxed and bamboozled out of anything they found. Meanwhile, as the site museum stresses, the world of the local Native American Nisenan tribespeople was collapsing due to disease and displacement. In the rare moments when there aren’t a million schoolkids running around, the pastoral park by the river makes for a solemn stroll. A trail leads, via displays on panning and hydraulic mining and past the 1860 Wah Hop Chinese Store, to the spot on the bank of the wide American River where Marshall found gold and started the revolutionary birth of the ‘Golden State.’ On a hill overlooking the park is the James Marshall Monument, where he was buried in 1885, a ward of the state. You can drive the circuit but it’s much better to meander up to the monument on foot, and then continue on the Monroe Ridge Trail for views of the town and the river. Panning for gold ($7, free with park entrance if you have your own equipment) is popular. From 10am to 4pm in the summer, or by request, you get a quick training session and 45 minutes to pan.
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Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
Two miles southwest of Volcano, this sacred area for the local Miwok comprises a museum in a traditional wooden roundhouse, a village site, a limestone outcrop covered with petroglyphs – 363 originals and a few modern additions – and over 1000 mortar holes called chaw’se, used for grinding acorns and seeds into meal. During the last weekend of September, the time of the acorn harvest, the Big Time festival at the site features crafts, dances and games. Look out for the wonderful feathered dance capes in the museum.
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Empire Mine State Historic Park
Atop 367 miles of mine shafts tunneling almost a vertical mile beneath the surface, Gold Country’s best-preserved gold-quartz-mining operation is worth a solid half-day’s exploration. From 1850 to 1956 the miners here, mostly Cornish, produced 5.8 million troy ounces of gold (worth about $8 billion today). The visitor center has maps and leads guided tours (schedules vary). See the website for events. It's very well worth paying to enter the mine yard, littered with mining equipment and buildings constructed from waste rock, and to view the main shaft's claustrophobic entry, next to the former site of the head frame (a tall structure used to haul ore and people from underground). Nearby is the English-manor-style summer cottage and 13 acres of gardens belonging to the Bourn family, who originally owned the mine; though this now appears incongruously idyllic, the noise of the mining activity must have been deafening. Hiking backcountry trails that meander past abandoned mines and equipment is free. Trailheads are located at the parking lots behind the visitor center and Penn Gate to its west.
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Auburn State Recreation Area
This is a park of deep gorges cut by the rushing waters of the North and Middle Forks of the American River, which converge below a bridge on Hwy 49, 4 miles south of Auburn. In early spring, when waters are high, this is immensely popular for white-water rafting, as the rivers are class II to V runs. Late summer, calmer waters allow for sunning and swimming, especially around the confluence. Numerous trails are shared by hikers, mountain bikers and horses. One of the most popular is the Western States Trail, which connects Auburn State Recreation Area to Folsom Lake State Recreation Area and Folsom Lake. It’s the site of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run (www.wser.org), and the Tevis Cup (www.teviscup.org), an endurance race on horseback. The Quarry Trail takes a level path from Hwy 49, just south of the bridge, along the Middle Fork of the American. Several side trails reach the river. For camping, there are three basic sites: a boat-in-only campground on lower Lake Clementine (closed in the winter; reserve in advance at www.reservecalifornia.com) and two hike-in, first-come first-served campgrounds on either side of the North Fork American River. Mineral Bar is open year-round; Ruck-A-Chucky is closed in the winter.
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Railtown 1897 State Historic Park
Five blocks east of Jamestown’s Main St, this 26-acre collection of trains and railroad equipment is the photogenic sister to Sacramento's rail museum. It's served as a backdrop for countless films and TV shows, including Back to the Future III, Unforgiven and High Noon. On some weekends and holidays, you can ride the narrow-gauge railroad that once transported ore, lumber and miners. The 45-minute, 6-mile circuit is easily the best train ride in Gold Country. Ask the passionate volunteers to show you the roundhouse and restored station, or just wander around. There’s a lyrical romance to the place, where an explosion of orange poppies grows among the rusting shells of steel goliaths, and the air is spiced with creosote, campfire smoke and pine.
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Kennedy Gold Mine
You can't miss the ominous steel headframe of the mine from the road, rising to 125ft. Its pulleys lifted ore and miners from the bowels of the earth. Guided tours last about 90 minutes and take you past the stamp, gold recovery mill and massive tailing wheels. The parking lot is off North Main St. On-site Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park has marvelous examples of engineering and craftsmanship – four iron and wood wheels, 58ft in diameter, that transported tailings from neighboring Eureka Mine over two low hills. Once the deepest mine in the area, this is now a peaceful park good for a stroll. Be sure to climb to the top of the hill behind the wheels to see the impounding dam.
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Firehouse No 1 Museum
This small, painstakingly curated museum is run by the Nevada County Historical Society from a unique white wooden building with a tall bell tower. From stunning Nisenan baskets to preserved Victorian bridal wear, its collections tell the story of the local people. The prize exhibits are relics from the Chinese settlers who often built but seldom profited from the mines. By 1880, miners of Chinese origin constituted more than a fifth of all engaged in the industry and were nearly exclusively subject to a hefty Foreign Miners' License Tax. The Chinese altar was saved by a local merchant who hid the pieces around town to keep it from marauders.
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Tuolumne County Museum
In the former 1857 Tuolumne County Jail, you'll find this great little museum with a fortune’s worth of gold on display in the form of nuggets and gold-bearing quartz. Each of the former jail cells takes on a different theme, one of which is the little-told story of African Americans during the gold rush. The museum also explores the story of former slave William Suggs, who set up a leather harness business, built a mansion in the town and successfully campaigned to overturn segregation in local schools.
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Columbia State Historic Park
The so-called ‘Gem of the Southern Mines’ is like a miniature Gold Rush Disneyland, but with more authenticity and heart. Four blocks of town have been preserved, where volunteers perambulate in 19th-century dress and demonstrate gold panning. The blacksmith’s shop, theater, hotels and saloon are all carefully framed windows into California’s past. The yesteryear illusion of Main St is shaken only a bit by fudge shops and the occasional banjo-picker or play-acting forty-niner whose cell phone rings.