,

Above Ground

Owner’s Cottage, Empire Mine SHP, Grass Valley (11/10/19) Steve Arita

Hard rock gold miners didn’t have much opportunity to enjoy the beauty of autumn. They spent most of their day underground.

However, at Empire Mine State Historic Park in Grass Valley the gold to be found today is all above ground. Steve Arita visited this past weekend and found the mine’s surrounding forests to be at peak and beautiful.

Empire Mine was in operation for more than 100 years, starting during the 1850s. In that century, 5.8 million ounces of gold were removed, valued at $8.5 billion in today’s dollars.

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.

  • Empire Mine SHP, Grass Valley (11/10/19) Steve Arita
  • Empire Mine SHP, Grass Valley (11/10/19) Steve Arita
  • Empire Mine SHP, Grass Valley (11/10/19) Steve Arita
  • Empire Mine SHP, Grass Valley (11/10/19) Steve Arita
  • Empire Mine SHP, Grass Valley (11/10/19) Steve Arita

856 acres of forested backcountry and fourteen miles of trails for easy hikes, mountain biking and horseback riding can be experienced in the park.

Visitors can enter the actual shaft, but visit only 1/367th of the mine’s five square miles of underground workings, as everything deeper is under water.

So, Steve wasn’t able to bring back any golden souvenirs, other than these photographs of the park’s fall color. After all, he was keeping it all above ground.

  • Empire Mine SHP, Grass Valley (2,411′) – Peak (75-100%) GO NOW!
/by