I have no idea how many times we have driven up Highway 50 through Placerville on our way to Lake Tahoe and noticed the sign to Gold Bug Park. We have always wondered what was there and today we paid the park a visit. We are glad that we did.
Our kids are two and four and sometimes they get bored when I spend too much time learning about the history of places we visit. -- Mining they get. The idea that people would spend their time digging in the dirt and mud to find shiny rocks is a concept that they can completely relate to. Once they saw the gold panning exhibit, they didn't express any concern at all that there were no slides or swings in this park.
Owned by the city of Placerville, Gold Bug Park is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. If you enjoy gold rush history and geology, visiting the 65 acre park is time well spent. Within the park boundaries are over 250 mines (two of which can be toured by visitors), opportunities to pan for gold, a museum and gift store, 5 short hiking trails, an ore stamping mill, and probably a number of other things that we didn’t have time to see.
We spent a fair amount of time at the Joshua Hendy Stamp Mill where a park volunteer showed us a scaled down version of the equipment used to crush ore in the early 1900’s. I was fascinated with the machinery, the kids loved the display of minerals that were illuminated with fluorescence.
We also took the opportunity to pick up a geocache and a letterbox on the Stamp Mill trail. If you walk on the trails, watch out for the poison oak. It’s everywhere in Gold Country. If you don’t know how to identify poison oak, go here.
To visit the park, take US 50 to Placerville, California. Take Bedford Avenue North for 1 mile and follow the signs. The park is open daily from 8:30-5:00 during the normal tour season of March 31st to October 31st.