Sacramento has 13 state parks within 50 miles, and three of them are in Gold Country, each on a different road out of town. Marshall Gold Discovery, 36 miles northeast at Coloma, is where gold was found in 1848. Empire Mine, 49 miles northeast in Grass Valley, worked one of California’s deepest gold mines for more than 100 years. Indian Grinding Rock, 38 miles east near Pine Grove, holds the largest collection of bedrock mortars in North America. This is the outdoor half of the day. The eating half is at the end: one table on the way back from each park.
We run State Park Near Me, a directory of every state park in the country, and we are a guest here. Top of Sacramento asked for the parks. They supplied the restaurants.
The day, in order
Each park is its own drive: US 50 to Coloma, I-80 to Grass Valley, and Highway 88 through Jackson for Pine Grove. Marshall Gold Discovery’s day use areas are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and its museum 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Empire Mine’s grounds open at 10 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. through October 31, then at 4 p.m. from November 1. Indian Grinding Rock is open sunrise to sunset, with its museum open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All three close some or all facilities on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fall in the foothills can be cool, and Marshall Gold Discovery advises layered clothing.
Marshall Gold Discovery
James Marshall found gold here in 1848 on the South Fork of the American River, and the Gold Rush followed. About 70 percent of the town of Coloma sits inside the park, and with only about 200 people living there all year, the tree-lined streets are quiet most of the time. Buildings that survived the Gold Rush still stand, and the Gold Discovery Museum covers the discovery, the Native Americans of the valley, the many cultures that arrived in the rush, and the farming that came after. The 2.5-mile Gam Saan Trail, Gold Mountain in Cantonese, connects the park with Henningsen Lotus Park and tells the story of Coloma’s Chinese miners. Dogs on a leash may use the trails and the river. Day use is $10 per car; the day use areas are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the visitor center and museum 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Empire Mine
Empire Mine was one of the oldest, deepest and richest gold mines in California. It ran for more than 100 years and took out 5.8 million ounces of gold before it closed in 1956, leaving 367 miles of abandoned and flooded shafts below. The park keeps the mine buildings, the owner’s home and restored gardens, and the shaft entrance. Ask to see the Secret Room in the visitor center, named for its blacked-out windows, which holds a scale model of the mine’s five square miles of workings. A 45-minute guided tour is included in the entry fee, first come, first served, and estate tours go inside the Bourn Mansion and Clubhouse. Above ground there are 856 acres of forest and 14 miles of trails. Entry is $5 for adults and free for children 5 and under. The park is at 10791 East Empire Street in Grass Valley.
Indian Grinding Rock
The park sits in a small valley about 2,400 feet up in the Sierra Nevada foothills, 11 miles east of Jackson, with open meadows and three kinds of acorn oak. The Northern Sierra Miwok settled here centuries ago and lived on acorns, and they ground them on a great outcrop of marbleized limestone that now holds some 1,185 mortar holes. The park also has reconstructed bark houses and a ceremonial roundhouse that is the largest in California still used by Native Americans. The Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum, built in the shape of a roundhouse, shows basketry, feather regalia, jewelry and tools from the Miwok, Maidu, Washo and other Sierra Nevada peoples. The park is open sunrise to sunset and the museum 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Day use is $8 per car, $1 off for seniors. Dogs are allowed only on paved paths.
The full list
Directions, maps and the official site for each of these, plus the other state parks within 50 miles, are on our side. The state parks near Sacramento page on State Park Near Me lists all 13, closest first, with a page for every park.
