marshall gold discovery state historic park

We visited while studying the California Gold Rush in our homeschool and are so glad we did. The park fee is $8 per car and the parking is a little confusing, but the Rangers were very helpful. The museum has great information and the grounds are fairly extensive. There are several original buildings as well as several reconstructed buildings and replica equipment. Many of the informational signs are illegible, but it seems that they are being replaced in stages. Overall, very educational, very friendly and helpful rangers, and a great way to spend a day.

Lots of great renovations including a new and relocated replica of the Sutters Mill. Highly recommend taking the interpretive tour. New owners of Argonaut Cafe too! Awesome food.

Although there was construction to update the park, we found the Gold Discovery State Historic Park to be fun and educational. There are informational signs where historical buildings are/have been. There are also lots of picnic tables and shaded areas for just relaxing. There are guided tours for a fee with senior citizen discounts, but you can walk around on your own and still find a great deal of information.

The park was undergoing renovation, one car park closed with large areas fenced off yet we still had to pay the entrance fee. The interpretive signs on exhibits that were not fenced off and that we could find were faded and unreadable. I certainly would say don't visit while the renovation is underway.

The park is clearly under renovation, and it certainly needs to be! There is good history here, but the state of the park is appalling. Luckily, soon ("in 2014", they say, but that seems unrealistic), there will be a new visitor center, a mill replica at the actual site of the mill, and a monument at the site where gold was discovered. As it stands today, the museum is a joke, the "exhibits" are hard to find, the interpretive signs are unreadable due to decay, and the site of gold's discovery is poorly marked and barely visible. Judging by the attractive stone parapets being constructed and other work being done throughout the park, this should all improve soon. A site this important to CA history deserves better.

Came here along with my two sisters on a trip to Apple Hill. Would have given it 5 stars had the buildings been open. Don't know if it was because of the King fire but we got here at 10am opening time and found notices out they won't open until 12 or later becuase of the fire. It would have been nice to have that info put on their web site. Just happened to be pouring rain that day as well. We drove around to all the sites until the museum finally opened at noon. For some reason no tours were offered and none of the building were open so we felt a little cheated at paying our fee and missed out on getting to see the blacksmith's shop and other stops. It is a great place to visit though and would recommend it.

Don't miss the chance to talk to the blacksmiths, they know the history of the town's people beyond just the gold discovery story. The park and exhibits are great, and the beautiful trail up to Marshall's monument is worth the short hike.

The Marshall Gold Discovery site in Coloma, CA. is a nice stop between Reno/Tahoe and San Francisco. The museum and buildings from Gold Rush days elicit feelings of what it might have been like to be a 49'er.We found this to be a well worth stop on our travels and recommend it highly- especially if you have youngsters with you.

A Swiss merchant emigrant, John Sutter, moved to the pastoral Sacramento valley led by dreams of establishing a new Switzerland in the New World. His diary of August 13, 1839 reads: "Today with the help of my ten Kanakas and three white men I founded a colony called New Helvetia." By that time he had somehow managed to become "Captain Sutter"... During the war with Mexico he managed to be friend with both sides and his tract of land was unaffected by the Treaty of February 1848 and his dream of settlers to New Helvetia grew. Sutter formed a partnership with James Marshall, a carpenter from New Jersey, for the purposes of building a sawmill at a place called Cullooma by the Indians: the new colony was going to need much lumber. Much to "Captain" Sutter's regret, his partner stumbled into a bright peace of rock on a cold morning in January of 1848. It turned out to be gold. Before long, word spread and the "49's" started coming from all over the world. Sutter's dreams evaporated, since nobody was available to do the work any more: all his workers left in search of their own gold claim. Sutter moved to a new area, called Sutter's Creek, but he was run out of the diggings due to what the Yankees called his system of "slavery". James Marshall was not much luckier than his partner: during the next ten years he was so hated and despised that he had to post armed guards to protect his claims. He traveled, trying to make living with lectures about the West, only to return twenty years later when huge financial interests had taken over the mines while he was left completely out in the cold. James Marshall died in August of 1885, a broken pauper and was buried on a hill within sight of his discovery location. After reading the above story, I was very excited to go see the place of the original gold discovery. Much to my regret, it was a big disappointment. $8/person buys you: - A ONE MINUTE walk trough some plastic figures (Native Indians and Marshall's Discovery Moment), this is the "museum". - Right to park on the premises - Right to go to the beach (!) - Right to walk on walk throughout with this warning: only the two Chinese stores and Marshall's cabin are authentic structures. Everything else is replica. I have my doubts about Marshall's cabin, given that one side features bright new lumber and point this out to the ranger, who replies "We bring it up to date"! This reminds my of my visit to the Greek Pantheon, which is in the process of being actively rebuilt with "authentic" (understand brand new) marble blocks... Near the Cabin you can see a monument to Marshall Gold.So sad.

Very cool place to visit, especially if you appreciate California history. The little museum was OK with some interesting movies and you'll have to wander around the rest the park to see the other sites, like the Sutter's Mill replica. There's a place where you can pan for gold, which the kids really enjoyed. You can see the major sites in a couple of hours, including 45-60 minutes for gold panning. If you have more time (like half a day), inquire about opportunities to raft or tube in the river. There's also a smartphone app about the park that's available to download.

This park gives a great introduction to gold mining and the finding of gold in the area. The staff is friendly and willing to go into detail about the dangers of gold mining. If you are in the area, spend some time here seeing the museum and the historic sites.

We had a great afternoon. We played in the river, ate gelato, and panned for gold. We learned about the gold Rush and had fun doing it. I recommend it for families young and old.

Perhaps if people actually knew that this is the site where the California Gold Rush Began it would be more visited. The route to get there was not all that well marked ( went from Placerville half way between Sacramento and S. Lake Tahoe) It is such an important historic site, There is an orientation movie , the reconstructed Mill, there is gold panning and a boat launch and some reconstructed town buildings

The historic park is well worth the visit if you have any interest in the history of California. When Marshall found the gold in the American River near Sutter's Mill, the west changed. The park is small but very well laid out and informative, especially the visitors centre. A cafe in the park are provides very acceptable refreshments. The Marshall Monument up the hill and his original cabin are well worth the walk or drive (although when we went, we were the only ones who seemed to think so as no-one else was there, they were all down by the river). Driving to the park from either Placerville or Auburn is worthwhile (and unavoidable) as the scenery is excellent.

This is a wonderful place to step back in time to the Gold Rush days where gold was actually discovered. The Visitor Center is undergoing some construction, but the temporary one is still worthwhile for the movie and exhibits.Children can do the ranger activities.Be sure to see the replica of Sutter's Mill as well as the houses owned/used by the Chinese workers. Bedrock Mortar is fascinating, too.