Exclusive mining tour available April 4 for Mining Summit attendees
March 14, 2014
There will be plenty to do for those of you coming out on Friday, April 4.Gold Bug Park is offering an exclusive tour for Mining Summit attendees.
Located just three miles from the Mining Summit, Hangtown's Gold Bug Park and Mine in Placerville will be open April 4 - 6 to Mining Summit attendees.
The park includes two hard rock mines, a stamp mill, mining museum and blacksmith shop.
Exclusive to the Mining Summit participants, the park will be offering tours of the rarely seen Priest Mine. Priest Mine tours are only available on Friday, April 4. This 1850 hard rock mine is well-preserved, with thousands of pick marks on the walls and ceiling, giving testament to the grueling, back-breaking life of a hard rock miner.
Priest Mine tours will be limited to 15 people on a first-come, first-served bases, with tours departing every 20 minutes starting at 10am.
The Priest Mine docent-guided tour will be combined with the self-guided audio tours of the Gold Bug mine, and the cost is only $7.00 per person for both mines when you mention the Mining Summit. The price also includes stamp mill presentations, blacksmith demonstrations, access to the mining museum, hiking trails, gift shop and the Liberty picnic pavilion. The park and tours will be available rain or shine.
During the Mining Summit, Gold Bug Park's gates will be open from 8:00am to 5:00pm. The Gold Bug mine, museum, gift shop, stamp mill and blacksmith shop will be open from 10am to 4pm. The last Gold Bug self-guided audio tour will be available at 3:30pm.
Gold Bug Park is located at 2635 Gold Bug Lane, one mile off of Highway 50 at Bedford Avenue in Placerville.
For more information, contact the park at (530) 642-5207 or visit www.goldbugpark.org
El Dorado County Mining Museum open for Mining Summit
The El Dorado County Mining History Museum will be open for the Mining Summit.
The museum houses a large collection of mining artifacts and a wealth of information, including an extensive collection of digitized photographs and historical maps of mining claims.
The museum will be open from 10am - 4pm Friday through Sunday, and it's conveniently located at the Placerville Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville.
The museum requests a donation of $2.00 per visitor.
Marshall Gold Discover State Historic Park
If you haven't been there before, no visit to the area would be complete without a stop at the site of Sutter's Mill where James W. Marshall discovered gold in 1848. The day-use areas are open from 8am - 5pm, and the museum is open 10am - 5pm.
The park is located in Coloma, about 18 minutes north of the Placerville Fairgrounds on historic Route 49.
More information is available on the State Parks website.
For complete details on the 2014 Gold Prospecting & Mining Summit in Placerville, visit our Mining Summit information page.
