History at the Empire Mine

Autumn is a delightful time to tour California’s Gold Country. The weather is crisp but comfortable, and fellow tourists are scarce. The fall colors are stunning, impressive to even the most die-hard New Englander.

For the hiker meandering through the Mother Lode, a good place to get off California 49 and explore the state’s Gold Rush heritage, as well as to walk through some of that splendid autumn gold, is at a state park just outside Nevada City/Grass Valley.

Empire Mine, one of California’s richest, produced more than 6 million ounces of gold during its 100 years of operation. The gold mine, along with 748 acres of gold country, is preserved in Empire Mine State Historic Park.

Shortly after the great Gold Rush of 1849, logger George Roberts discovered an outcropping of gold-bearing quartz. Miners swarmed these hills to lay claim to the riches. Trouble was, the gold was way below the surface, which pretty well thwarted most of the low-tech, low-budget prospectors.

About 1851, Roberts and his fellow gold-seekers sold their claims to a consortium that consolidated them and dubbed the operation the Empire Mine. San Francisco businessman William Bourn and his son, William, Jr., took over in 1870 and eventually turned a profit beginning in the 1880s.

Much of the Empire’s success can be attributed to the experienced hard-rock miners from Cornwall, England, who came there. By some accounts, the population of Grass Valley in 1890 was 85% Cornish.

Park visitors can look at the main mine shaft from an observation platform. At the visitor center are interpretive exhibits and gold samples displayed in an open vault.

The advantages of owning a gold mine are evident in the opulence of the Empire Cottage, an English manor-style home designed by San Francisco architect Willis Polk for William Bourn, Jr., in 1898.

Join one of the scheduled tours of the Empire Cottage or Empire Mine. Or take a 16-stop walking tour on your own, past the old buildings and mining machinery.

Then hit the trail. The park has 10 miles of pathways--above ground, that is. Below you, the earth is honeycombed with some 367 miles of tunnels, some nearly a mile deep.

Across the highway from the visitor center is the Union Hill section of the park. This part of the park is wooded--sugar pine, ponderosa pine, incense cedar and Douglas fir, along with some oaks and big leaf maple. Fruit trees--apple, pear and cherry--are reminders of the area’s early settlers.

Three trails, of one to three miles long, explore Union Hill. Along Pipeline Trail are remains of a conduit that carried water from a reservoir and generated power to operate mining machinery. Indian Ridge Trail is a historic pathway used by the Nisenan group of Maidu Indians. Union Hill Trail skirts the fringe of the fast-growing town of Grass Valley.

My personal favorite--two-mile-long Hardrock Trail--is a 20-stop interpretive trail that visits mines, machinery, a mule corral, stamp mill and much more. Pick up the park’s “Walking Trails of Empire Mine” brochure to learn the complexities of hard-rock mining.

Osborn Hill Loop Trail, a milelong side trail splitting off from Hardrock Trail, ascends to a couple more mine sites and offers a great view of the Sacramento Valley.

Empire Mine State Historic Park is just east of California 49 on East Empire Street, Grass Valley. Follow the signs from the highway to the park.

Harkrock Trail

WHERE: Empire Mine State Historic Park.

DISTANCE: 2-3 miles or more round trip.

TERRAIN: Sierra foothills just outside Grass Valley.

HIGHLIGHTS: A chance to tour one of California’s oldest and richest gold mines.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Easy-moderate.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Empire Mine State Historic Park, 10791 E. Empire St., Grass Valley, Calif. 95945, (916) 273-8522.