Park is open daily from 10AM - 4PM. (Winter Hours- 11/1-2/28)
Summer hours of operation are from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. (3/1-10/31)
The park is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, & New Years Day.
What is open now?
(530) 273-8522
Park is open daily from 10AM - 4PM. (Winter Hours- 11/1-2/28)
Summer hours of operation are from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. (3/1-10/31)
The park is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, & New Years Day.
Yes
Dogs allowed on roads and trails, within the Empire Mine State Historic Park Visitor Center, as well as the grounds within the historic zone of the park. Except for service animals, dogs not allowed inside historic buildings or in mine shafts.
No events scheduled at this moment.
Empire Mine State Historic Park is the site of one of the oldest, deepest, and richest gold mines in California. The park is in Grass Valley at 10791 East Empire Street. In operation for more than 100 years, the mine extracted 5.8 million ounces of gold before it closed in 1956. The park contains many of the mine’s buildings, the owner’s home and restored gardens, as well as the entrance to 367 miles of abandoned and flooded mine shafts. The park encompasses 856 acres of forested backcountry and fourteen miles of trails - including easy hikes (for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding) - in the park.
Drive 24 miles north of Auburn on Highway 49 to Empire Street exit in Grass Valley. The park is located in Grass Valley at 10791 East Empire Street.
California State Parks acknowledges the Nisenan People were here in this State Park since time immemorial. The Nisenan People are still here today, though they are nearly invisible.
The Sierra District of California State Parks includes their story in our interpretation and education here at the Empire Mine State Historic Park. We understand we are on Nisenan Land and that the original Tribal Families have yet to recover from the near genocide of their people during the California Gold Rush.
California State Parks supports the Nevada City Rancheria Tribe in efforts to stabilize their people as well as the campaign to restore Tribal sovereignty through Federal Recognition.
To keep track of the mine's 367 underground workings, a place called "The Secret Room" (named for its blacked-out windows) was built. In it, the entire room was filled with a scale model of the mine's below the surface workings. Few people knew the room existed while the mine was in operation. Today, visitors to the park can see it in the Visitor Center. The model represents five square miles of underground workings. When the visitors go down the actual shaft in the park, they have journeyed only "one inch" on the model. Anything past "two inches" on the model is underwater in the actual mine.