Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sleeping
Auburn State Recreation Area
CAMPGROUND
(sites $25-35)
There are basic sites on a sweeping bend of the Middle Fork at the blackberry-dotted
Ford's Bar that are accessible only by a 2-mile hike from Rucky-A-Chucky Rd, or a half-
day raft. Required permits for these sites are available from the
Ranger Office
(
530-885-4527; 501 El Dorado St;
9am-4pm Mon-Fri)
.
Grass Valley
From the margins, Grass Valley is the ugly utilitarian sister to Nevada City, a place to
stock up on supplies and get an oil change, not necessarily vacation, but there are treasures
if you dig.
Historic Mill and W Main Sts mark the town center. E Main St leads north to modern
shopping centers and mini-malls and into Nevada City. On Thursday nights in late-June
through August, Mill St closes to traffic to serve up farmstead food, arts and crafts, and
music. In the town's outskirts are some of the state's oldest shaft mines. Being the first to
exploit lode-mining (tunneling to find veins of gold in hard rock) rather than placer tech-
niques (sifting debris carried by waterways), these were among the most profitable claims.
Sights
Empire Mine State Historic Park
HISTORIC SITE
(
www.empiremine.org
; 10791 E Empire St; adult/child $7/3; 10am-5pm)
Atop 400 miles of mine shafts tunneling 11,000ft below is Gold Country's best-preserved
gold quartz-mining operation - worth a solid half-day's exploration. The mine yard is
littered with mining equipment and buildings constructed from waste rock. You can view
main shaft's claustrophobic entry, next to the head frame (a tall structure used to haul ore
and people from underground). By the visitor center are the country club-like manor
home, gardener's cottage and rose garden of the Bourn family, who ran the mine.
