Things to do in Grass Valley
Auburn State Recreation Area
In the heart of the gold country, the Auburn State Recreation Area (Auburn SRA) covers 40-miles of the North and Middle Forks of the American river. Once teeming with thousands of gold miners, the area is now a natural area offering a wide variety of recreation opportunities to over 500,000 visitors a year Call 530-885-4527 for more information.
Empire Mine State Historic Park
Empire Mine State Historic Park is the site of one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California. The park is in Grass Valley at 10791 East Empire Street. In existence for more than 100 years, the mine produced 5.6 million ounces of gold before it closed in 1956. (5.6 million ounces of gold is equivalent to a box seven feet long, seven feet high, and seven feet deep filled with gold.) The park contains many of the mine’s buildings, the owner’s home and restored gardens, as well as the entrance to 367 miles (the distance, as the crow flies, from Grass Valley to Magic Mountain) of abandoned and flooded mine shafts. The park consists of forested backcountry and eight miles of trails – including easy hikes (for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding) - in the park Call 530-273-8522 for more information.
Historic Placer County Courthouse
This is a grandiose three-story Classic Revival structure topped by a bracketed cornice and simple Renaissance Revival inspired dome. This building is listed on The National Register of Historic Places.
101 Maple Street, Grass Valley, CA
Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park
Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park is the site of California’s largest "hydraulic" mine. Visitors can see huge cliffs carved by mighty streams of water, results of the gold mining technique of washing away entire mountains to find the precious metal. Legal battles between mine owners and downstream farmers ended this method. The park also contains a 7,847 foot bedrock tunnel that served as a drain. The visitor center has exhibits on life in the old mining town of North Bloomfield. Call 530-265-2740 for more information.
South Yuba River State Park
This 20-mile portion of the south fork of the Yuba River canyon stretches from Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park to Bridgeport. The area includes the longest single-span covered bridge in the world, four miles of the steep rugged canyon of the South Yuba River, and the Independence Trail — a wheelchair accessible trail.Visitors can enjoy swimming, hiking, panning for gold, beautiful wildflowers, or exploring the trails leading to such historic mining sites as the Miner's Tunnel and Jones Bar. Docent-led history, nature, and gold-panning tours are also offered at selected times throughout the year. Call 530-432-2546 for more information.