If you are an individual who loves to learn about the California Gold Rush and subsequent mining in…read morethe Foothills, then stop by Miner's Bend Park in Sutter Creek. Just a short walk from downtown, the park is small but has a lot of cool old machinery and more importantly, lots of great information on Mother Lode mining and the miners who risked their lives daily to extract the precious metal.

Miner's Bend Historical Park, is down the road from the old downtown of Sutter Creek, on old route…read more49. The park is very, very small. One can walk at the pace of a turtle ( figuratively speaking) and probably still do a whole turn in less than 5 minutes. It's at the end of a road of homes and extra city parking spaces. It has no restroom, no play area, and no BBQ pits. It has a couple of picnic tables under a big beautiful sprawling low branching tree. So what does the park actually have and why the heck would anyone go visit it?!?!! Well, the park is actually an outdoor display of historical mining equipment with information boards full of historical facts and archive photographs. Basically a free outdoor museum! Awesome use of open public space and retired mining equipment. It's worth a stop if you are already in the area and appreciate history. Actually the small country town of Sutter Creek is itself a California historical landmark. The old town is a modern refined tourist trap with modern posh boutiques, shops, and eateries; it has a historical charm of the 19th century gold mining California town. The Main Street has its wooden sidewalk and Americano turn of the century look. I call it Main Street but it's officially called old route 49. Nearby homes are older beautifully refurbished Victorians maintained by private residences. Sutter Creek still flows through old town, site of the gold panning days of yore. The Main Street is on the old route 49. The new route 49 was built about 10 years ago that rerouted it away from driving through town. #suttercreekminersbendhistoricalpark

Love the view at the top of the hill. Amazing history and a wonderful dog park. Plenty of area to…read morerun if you have 2 or 4 legs, vehicle accessible and bathrooms.

I was just bebopping around the Sierra foothills on a lazy weekend day this past summer. I was in…read moreJackson, CA, driving around. I happen to drove out to the Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park. Admission and parking is FREE. The park is created around the remains of the Kennedy Mine's Tailing wheels. The city even threw in a section for a dog park, but that area is a sad dirt patch with no shade. The main attraction of the park is the glass enclosed tailing wheel #4. It's 68 feet in diameter with 178 buckets. Quite an impressive sight. The Kennedy gold mine operations ran from mid 1850s through 1942 (the government shut down the operations to focus on due WW II efforts). The original wheels were located up the hill closer to the mine operations and moved to the park for display. The whelks were reassembled and laid out in reverse order. Wheel #4 is the only wheel restored. A portion of the financial assistance came from the local community. Awesome. Wheels 1 and 2 are across the street on the Kennedy mine property, not much of it is left. The Kennedy mine is now a tourist attraction. You can walk across the street to view wheels 1 and 2. They're viewable from afar behind the fence. Not much to look at though, just crumbled aged pieces of wood. Wheel #3 is near wheel #4. That wheel is also in disrepair and falling apart, but somewhat better condition than 1&2. Behind wheel #4 is Indian Gulch. That's the area where the mine waste carried from the tailing wheels ended up. In 1914, a dam was built so the mine waste was impounded to the dam basin. Another thing is the park is not flat and has slight elevation, and the strolling paths are not paved and have steps. The sights are viewable from the pave sidewalk/roadway. Amenities: restroom, picnic benches, strolling path shaded in areas by old Oak trees, and dog park.

Such a beautiful park slightly hidden away in the small city of Ione. The park is HUGE offering 4…read morebaseball diamonds, 4 soccer fields, a skate park, disc golf, and 2 tennis courts. If that wasn't enough 2 play structures AND a designated dog park and of course lots and lots of grass to relax under the trees. The bathroom facilities we're ok, with toilet paper available. ps. Make sure to tour the small surrounding towns to grab a bite to eat and help the small local shops survive during these trying times.

Went here today for a company retreat. What fun! A fantastic venue for so many things. The…read moreweather was mild, the grounds beautiful, the kitchen and meeting auditorium, awesome and huge. There's a horse arena...a really big one with stands for the audience, plenty of places to explore and trail walk, lots of local wild flowers in bloom (watch out we did find a few patches of poison oak-"leaves of 3, let it be")! There's a lovely picnic area, many playgrounds for the kids, a baseball diamond and much more. We were fortunate enough to have our camp cooks on site for a remarkably good lunch with entrees consisting of a sun dried tomato pasta, bbq chicken with a ricotta cheese topping, pulled pork sandwiches, slaw, and a baby greens salad with cherry tomatoes; dessert cookies that were "out of this world" (smores-oatmeal and raisin & chocolate chip) Camp folks really know how to put on a good spread. Host your next event in Ione if you need lots of space, need to accommodate lots of people and would like a beautiful and nature filled venue!

I visited here with my wife during an anniversary getaway. We both love living history and walking…read moreamong historical features that you can visit and explore. Everything here was exciting to read about, there's plenty of walking paths if you're up for that...... so fun! Definitely wouldn't mind visiting again

The host was extremely rude to my kids, even though they were quiet. My kids ( 6 yearold) playing…read moreat 7:45 Am ., and the host threatened to call the police and told us to pack up. It made us feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome. I would not recommend staying here if you have children. The house is not kids friendlyI don't recommend

Another great day at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. I was first into park besides those there for…read morecamping. Clean restrooms, clean trails, impeccable grounds and views, ample parking for me but when I was done hiking the spaces were full. Hiked to the viewpoint then walked the numbered trees loop. Saw bear, dear and likely raccoon tracks. Plus saw proof that "yes" a bear does poop in the woods. Lots of woodpeckers, chipmunks, ground squirrels, jays and junco birds, The trees are so large, incredible sequoias. Many of the huge downed trees have been preserved, propped up and or fenced. I hiked about 4 miles. It was a great day.

I went there with my daughter and grandkids and enjoyed Beaver Creek and the Sequoia grove at the…read morenorth end 1.5 hiking loop. Unfortunately my granddaughter's were too tired and it was pretty hot to hike the Bradley trail to the south grove sequoia's. We ended up at the north grove which landmarks were numbered to 25 then back to the visitor center and it was amazing

This park is right off Highway 49 tucked down Big Bar Road. I call it a park but not the kind with…read morea green lawn l, picnic tables, and playground. It is a day use area along the North Fork Mokelumne River in Valley Springs, CA. Another thing to note is the place is called Big Bar Launch but it is not a boat launch. Parking and use are free. There is a bathroom but I sure as heck did not use it. It is a pit vault with no sink or any source of potable water, so it is probably a good idea bring your own sanitizer if you must use the restroom. Access to the river is a short distance. The access is rocky and there is no beach like areas. Swimming is not recommended, the river currents are swift. I saw skilled rafters and kayakers on the water. When I say skilled, they were rigged up with professional gear not a $1.25 floaty. In the summer, it is hot out there with not a lot of shade along the water. There is an area that has calmer water like a creek near the bridge. I didn't stay long after a large family left, that area was a bit too remote and filled with shrubbery. I stayed more towards the river next to the parking lot. It was open and visible with more folks.

Not much room to swim without getting swept away by the flow of the river , a lot of rocks, dirt…read moreand trees

This is where we take out the kayaks when we come down from the fish hatchery. Plenty of parking…read morebut they do charge you $6 (County thing). It is about 200 yards from the river to the parking lot and slightly uphill (or downhill depending on which way you are headed). In the summer you will encounter lots of people doing bbq and swimming & floating near the shore. The area is always clean and they have a large bin near the parking lot offering life jackets for the kids.