Historic Hard Rock Gold Mine Museums
Historic Hard Rock Gold Mine Museums
The three former hard rock mines offer information about hard rock mining specifically and the Gold Rush more generally. This is only a partial list.
Empire Gold Mine
10791 East Empire Street
Grass Valley, CA 95945-7432
(530) 273-8522
Empire Mine State Historic Park
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=499
The Empire Gold Mine offers a thorough view of California mining history, hard rock mining at Empire, including many artifacts, and a peek into the underground tunnels. The owners’ house survived and is nicely preserved.
Kennedy Gold Mine
12594 Kennedy Mine Road
Jackson, CA 95642
(209) 223-9542
The Kennedy Gold Mine offers a thorough review of California mining history and hard rock mining at Kennedy, including many artifacts.
Gold Bug Park
2635 Gold Bug Lane
Placerville, CA 95667
(530) 642-5207
Not as large as the Empire or Kennedy mine museums, but visitors may explore some of this mine’s tunnels, which were drilled horizontally into the hillsides. The park also features a relatively intact stamp mill.
