This is a free museum that's small, but interesting with a lot of information on the history of the…read moreGold Rush. It's a nice museum for adults & kiddos alike that's worth the short time it takes to walk through it. Some of the things you'll see here-- A giant statue in front called "The Chinese Coolie" A chance to try panning (although there were no actual gold objects in the water to find) Spin a wheel to see what your fate would've been Weigh yourself & find out your worth in gold Take a photo with props Sit on a bench in the small theater to watch a documentary Walk through a mine cave The staffer who was there was friendly, funny, & informative. He gave us a brief description of the layout. He greeted us when we entered & thanked us for visiting when we left.

Eureka! I struck gold on my second and third panning attempts. I didn't really know the proper…read moretechnique, as I was casually listening to the docent as he was talking about some interesting facts. After I found the gold flake, he gave me a small vial to put water and the flake inside. The only problem was getting that gold flake out of the pan. I managed and was running out of time as the museum closes at 4pm. (I got there at 3:20pm on a Sunday.) I grabbed another set of sand/rocks and panned another smaller flake. This is a must go if you're in the Sacramento region. It's definitely worth the 40 minute drive from the state capitol.

This museum has exhibits in different first floor sections of the courthouse. We happened to go on…read morea holiday weekday when court wasn't in session, so it wasn't busy & it was an easy walk in. The outside architecture of the building is stately. When we entered the main area of the museum, we were nicely greeted by a staffer who explained different areas to see. She also told us about Heritage Trail stamp cards, which we started (6/6/26 to 9/12/26 event). There's quite a bit we saw including... 13+ lbs of gold in the Placer County Gold Collection Courthouse building history Fossils Stagecoach Sheriff's office set up Native American artifacts Railroad info Andrew Carnegie libraries legacy in the area Artwork Historical clothing styles Hands-on telegraph to learn Morse Code Photo cutouts & "Wanted" sign props that we had fun with This was a nicely laid out, richly educational, & interesting place to visit that didn't take a lot of time to see.

Located inside The Placer County Courthouse building, this museum houses some of the historic…read moreartifacts from the early Nisenan inhabitants. It also includes the Pate Collection of American Indian artifacts and the original Thomas Kinkade painting "Auburn Centennial". The Placer County Gold Collection is also on exhibit here. Free admission and located on the first floor. Second floor is an active superior courthouse. We had a great time exploring this museum.

This free museum in Auburn is a very interesting home to tour. You get a guided tour through the…read morehome with lots of informative history and tidbits of info about the various items in the home.

This is a historic site that used to be an inn & winery that you can visit for free. There is a…read morehouse & grounds to explore. We made an impromptu visit while in the area. When we entered, we were welcomed by 2 docents dressed in period outfits to join an ongoing tour. While there, we only had time to see & hear about the first floor rooms, but they also go up to the second floor. It was neat to see so many furnishings & get a lot of history & information about the life of the family. The docents were knowledgeable & full of facts they wanted to share. They were interactive, answered questions, & invited visitors to venture guesses about things. Because of the tour format & wealth of information that the docents have, it does take some time. Also, because visitors were trickling in at different times & joining the ongoing tour, some information would get repeated to catch everyone up. We did walk around some of the grounds freely. If you're interested in the Victorian Era & local history, this is a worthwhile spot to see. Apparently there are some seasonal changes to the decor around the holidays. It's probably not a great spot to visit with very young kids because of the amount of patience needed to stand, listen, & not touch anything.

What an incredible talent and place. Staff is always so welcoming and informative. Where you are…read morebuying or just browsing, everyone is treated beautifully and every inch of the place is a feast for your soul

Beyond amazing. I've seen the Dave McCoy statue and the giant Willy Mammoth statue at Mammoth ski…read morearea. Van Howd made Both ! ! He made 2 Ronald Reagan statues. One is in the capital in Sacramento and many bigger than life statues of African game animals. Worth visiting if in Auburn.

We were invited to a birthday party at the Placer Nature Center. This was the first time we've…read moreever been or even heard of it. It was super easy to find. Parking was easy. The party was such a great idea. Something different. And it was a beautiful day to be outdoors. We were able to look around different rooms filled with all different things from water animals, local animals, even dinosaurs!!!! Then we went on a nature walk with scavenger hunt. Everyone was engaged and having fun! Then the kids got to check out the pond....and catch tadpoles! So fun. My daughter had such a good time, she didn't want to leave.

My youngest son had a field trip here and it was just perfect. We were bussed in and split into…read moreserval groups, each group had a different activity but in the end was able to do them all. We had a nature walk, guess who, got to check out butterflies and all the stages they go through. All staff was so informative and kept the small aged kiddos engaged!

From my separate City of Auburn review:…read more Auburn is an attractive city, especially Old Town Auburn, which attracts passersby on the highway between Reno and Sacramento with the quaint architecture on a hill flanked by a giant sculpture. Its small-town charm is likely why movies like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Breakdown, Wisdom, and xXx had scenes shot here, but the town relates most to the 1996 John Travolta movie Phinome Phenomin Phenomm Look Who's Talking. The guy who discovered gold here in 1849 was memorialized by Ken Fox with a 45-ton concrete (rebar and wire mesh) statue at the entrance of Old Town. Ken Fox was a dentist able to do this in between teeth cleanings and forcing customers to look at super close-up pictures of their teeth in order to sell "special deep teeth cleaning" by the quadrant. This dentist has more "Great Statues" in the area which you'd likely find ful-"filling". Get it? Anyway, it's right off the highway, so stop there and check out Old Town. (Check my reviews on Edelweis 2 and the California Club)

Quality/Quantity - What a cool active town, see pictures…read more(and/or their website) of some current events. This might be our new pit stop...? Or a designated location? We usually go to downtown Auburn, so I am glad we came to Old Town this time. Atmosphere - Cool historic town. Lots of locally owned shops. Plenty of places to eat. Walk friendly but not sure if ADA friendly. Dog friendly, at least at the brewery. :) Service - Good, everyone we met was friendly. Price - Depends on where you shop, eat, and drink. Owner Comment - What a great fun town, looking forward to coming back soon when I have more time.

Had a pretty good time here. Was able to ride the train while there. It has a pretty nice museum to…read morewalk through. The gift shop was pretty nice as well. They were working on one of the trains when me and my mom had gone up there. Will be coming back again.

Brought my daughter here and we both loved it. The staff were super friendly and really into what…read morethey do -- u can tell they care about keeping history alive. The train ride was calm, scenic, and honestly just fun to experience together. The museum itself has some amazing old cars and engines, all restored beautifully. It's got that perfect nostalgic vibe but still feels fresh and hands-on for kids. Such a great spot to spend an afternoon -- highly recommend it for families or anyone who just loves classic trains.

Looks like it would be a nice place for a picnic and a short hike. Nice open space. The quarry…read moreitself isn't much to see. 105 degrees Fahrenheit late June 2020.

I'm sure the park is probably closed after sunset, but I've come out here a few times to watch…read moremeteor showers and/or just to have some mischievousness fun after dark! There's quite a few walking trails, some granite ruins/walls, and a pretty big open grass area for picnics and what not! I think they do some sort of free tours on the weekends, but I'm not sure what really goes on for those. If you have offspring, this is probably a pretty cool spot to take the kids out and wear them down! If you decide to come out after dark, don't forget your flashlight, at night the walking trails seem to send you in circles, which is always fun if your with someone who scares easily!

My friend and I were strolling around Old Town Auburn when we saw this very grand building on top…read moreof the hill. We both wondered if that's their City Hall... Convinced that it probably is (it's not), we decided to hike up the hill to take a closer look only to realize as we hiked up that it was a lot farther away. Also we were surprised at the very steep hills here. So we made the decision to walk back down toward the center of Old Town and drove the parked car up to what we now realized is the Historic Courthouse. Built in 1898, it is now also the site of the current Placer County Superior Court (2nd floor) and The Placer County Museum which is located on the 1st floor. Of note, there's a Placer County women's jail (exhibit) which is a makeshift cell underneath the north staircase that was put here in 1905 due to it being too expensive to house women prisoners in local hotels and too dangerous to house them with men in the main jail. Located on Maple Street and Union Street.

This is a really cool historic courthouse. THE FOLLOWING WAS…read moreCPOIED FROM THE WEB SITE: Built in 1898, this courthouse is an elegantly-designed look into the history of Auburn. The beautifully restored Courthouse, which echoes many of the design elements in the state capital building, The Placer County Museum is also located on the first floor of the courthouse. They also have a historical small jail room that was built especially for women because prior to that they could not intermingle men and women in the same jail cells so they would put them up in a hotel room prior to this jail, self being built. The grounds are very well kept and there are plenty of photo ops.