Gold Bug Mine & Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park

Karen and I were visiting her folks last weekend. We were trying to decide what to do for the weekend, her parents wanted to take us to do some wine tasting in the local region. We jumped in the car and headed out. We had a wonderful Mexican lunch in Shingle Springs at Colina Del Oro. With our tummies full and the road ahead of us we stopped at a few area wineries to sample some the regions wonderful wines.

We stopped first at the Toogood Estate Wine Caves in Fairplay, CA. there we tasted some of the featured wines and explored the wine cave cellars. Then we headed to Oakstone Winery also in Fairplay, CA. to sampler their Slug Gulch Red table wine.

  

 The next morning we hit the road and headed out to Gold Bug Mine & Park in Placerville, CA. Once there we explored the outside of the mine and visitors center.

   

Once inside the visitors center we paid $5.00 for a Hardhat and Magic wand voice guided tour of the mine. The tour is narrated by a "Ghost Miner" who wants to tell you about the mine. It wasn't scary at all, just be sure to not let your 4 year old know that there are ghosts in the mine. The tour was fun but wet, ground water penetrates and drips through out the mine in the wet months. The tour basically explains mining lingo and gives a you a feel what the conditions were like for miners.

Because the mining claims were no longer worked or expanded, the Bureau of Land Management took over the land as public property. In the early 1960's the federal government under the Recreational Use Purposes Act leased properties to government entities for just that - recreational use. In 1965 the City of Placerville received the lease with the promise that the land would not be sold, divided or used for any other purpose than recreation. Under a 25 year lease agreement the City prepared to create a park.

In April 1980, Hangtown's Gold Bug Park Development Committee, Inc, was formed to clean up, protect and defend the property for public use.

On February 1, 1985, the park was approved for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and also as a State Point of Interest on the California registry. Gold Bug Park is now owned and operated by the City of Placerville. The City of Placerville is the only municipality in the state of California to own a gold mine. Today, you can step back in time to the mid 1800's and experience what it was like to be a miner in the gold rush era.

  After we toured the Gold Bug, we headed about 8 Miles down Hwy.49 to Coloma, specifically Marshall Gold Discovery Park .  To the site where gold was discovered and the gold rush all began. Marshall's monument, the original gold discovery site and several historic buildings became part of California's state park system in 1927. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park features a museum, many original and restored buildings, and costumed volunteers. At the museum you can learn how to pan for gold, and you can buy a gold pan there as well. Bekeart's Gun Shop, located in the Park, offers similar activities and old-fashioned trade goods.

Other Park activities include video presentations in the museum and sawmill demonstrations at the working replica of the original Sutter's Mill (pictured below). With a map from the museum you can guide yourself on tours of the town, the cemetery, the Monument Trail, and the Monroe Ridge Trail.