Gold Country State Parks |
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Gold Country State Parks Overview
The state park system is responsible for almost a third of California's scenic coastline. State parks include underwater preserves, parks, redwood forests, plant and wildlife reserves, state beaches, recreation areas, wilderness areas, reservoirs, historic parks & homes, Spanish buildings, lighthouses, ghost towns, waterslides, conference centers, and off-highway vehicle parks. Below you'll find a list of the more popular Gold Country state parks and ones we personally recommmend from the site of the ill-fated Donner Party to the artifacts of early America at Indian Grinding Rocks. |
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Gold Country State ParksDonner Memorial is located between Reno and Sacramento in Truckee. This park marks the site of the Donner party's camp during their fateful trek from the midwest to California in 1846. Donner Lake supports fishing, boating and water-skiing. Other popular activities include camping, picnicking, hiking, cross-country skiing and snoeshoeing. Two museums highlight the Donner party's expedition and emmigration to California during the 1800's. Empire Mine State Historic Park is located at the intersections of highways 20 and 49 northeast of Sacramento. Empire Mine was one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California. The grounds include the owner's home and gardens, original mine buildings and equipment and a museum. The 3 dimensional model of the 367 miles of shafts below the surface is impressive. Be sure to go out back and look down the shaft that miners used to be catapulted into. Other activities include hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. Folsom Lake State Recreation Area is located about 25 miles east of Sacramento on interstate 80 or highway 50. Activities include hiking, biking, running, camping, picnicking, horseback riding, water-skiing and boating. Fish species include trout, catfish, perch, large and small mouth bass. 
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is located in the heart of Sacramento between K & L and 26th & 28th streets. The fort was established in 1839 by Swiss immigrant, John Sutter who called it New Helvetia (New Switzerland). This was Sacramento's first non-indian settlement and was the main destination for settlers crossing the Sierra Nevadas. In 1847, the first few men from the Donner Party reached the fort and aid was sent to save the remaining settlers. The fort was overrun by gold miners in 1849 and today has been rebuilt to its former state. Old Sacramento State Historic Park is located at 3rd and J Streets directly off interstate 5 in downtown Sacramento. This park is several square blocks of preserved and rebuilt gold mining era buildings. These buildings now house touristy shops and restaurants. The state railroad museum is on the same property. Visitors can ride in historic buggies or take a short ferryboat ride on the Sacramento River. Activities include picnicking, sightseeing, shopping and biking on the river trail. 
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is located on Highway 49 between Placerville and Auburn in Coloma. This is where the 1849 gold rush all began. This is the site of Sutter's sawmill where in 1848, James W. Marshall found a gold at the bottom of his sawmill. Activities include hiking, sightseeing and gold panning. Coloma Resort resides just across the river where camping, gold panning, fishing, white water rafting and many more activities are available. 
Calaveras Big Trees is located east of Stockton and four miles northeast of Arnold on highway 4. This is a giant sequoia forest with a self-guided trail and campgrounds. Activities include hiking and camping. Some campgrounds are located adjacent to the giant forest but other, more secluded camps, are further into the park. The self-guided tour is the most interactive we've seen in a giant sequoia park with multiple walk-through trees and a bench that tilts back perfectly to relax and view the entire span of the giant trees. The hardpacked trails and boardwalks through the forest are wheelchair accessible when dry. Columbia State Historic Park is located 3 miles north of Sonora on Highway 49. This is a well preserved gold mining town with historic buildings, live entertainment, stagecoach rides and workers dress in era clothing. Activities include sightseeing and gold panning. 
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park is located in Jamestown off highway 49 at 5th Avenue and Reservoir Road. This is an operational railroad museum and train depot. Featured attraction is a short, historic, steam locomotive ride through gold country and back. The grounds include several historic trains, some of which were used in movies, a roundhouse, blacksmith shop and gift shop. 
Indian Grinding Rocks State Historic Park is located off Highway 88 southeast of Sacramento. The park is nestled in a little valley of oak trees and meadows. Evidence of indian inhabitants is clearly marked in the boulders throughout the park where mortar holes were formed from indians grinding acorns into flour. This is the largest collection of indian mortars found anywhere in North America. Today, the Miwok tribe continues to hold ceremonies at the 'Round House' on the property. |
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