malakoff diggins state historic park

The hydraulic mining practices in the 1870's triggered the first environmental lawsuit in California. This area is a reminder of the changes brought to the land by mining via this method. If you look at a detailed map you discover a series of these areas running from here south to the vicinity of I80 down in Placer County. They were following ancient ore bearing gravel beds.

cool place for history about the gold rush era and how towns sprang up and were left for other repurposes

The trail through the lower part of the diggins is amazing--beautiful botany, surrounded by surrealistic rock formations formed by blasting the hillsides with gigantic water cannons (monitors) over 100 years ago. The nearby town of North Bloomfield, a few miles further, is nicely preserved, but attractions are only open sometimes---check ahead!

Amazing place - beautiful and chock full of history. Worth a day to see what the placer mining was all about here in the region.

We would have enjoyed this place a lot more if the museum hadn't been closed. We found ourselves in the middle of a poorly marked park with no map. Also, we used our GPS to reach the park, big mistake. Do NOT take Bloomfield road, as road conditions are downright scary. We plan to return in summer via Route 49 to give this place a fair shake. And I will remember to call and check hours of operation, so as not to find the place deserted, as it was this time.

We drove from Beale AFB in Marysville to Malakoff Diggins State Park. Our GPS put us on 20 to Coyote Rd to N Bloomfield Rd. The road started out paved and marked, then just paved, then over a one lane bridge onto a gravel road, followed by a dirt road. It was miles and miles of switchbacks, bends, and turns accompanied by sheer drop offs enough to please any adrenaline junkie. DON'T TAKE THIS ROAD!!! Take route 49. The area mined by hydroponics is interesting. There are all kinds of rocks and gravel strewn all over the place. The historic town of Bloomfield was run down but people are living there. Bring bear spray. There was lots of evidence of bears and lions in the area.

This is a beautiful area filled with much history. There are still the original buildings (church, school, bar, homes, pharmacy, livery stable, etc.) and a cemetery. The "diggins" are spectacular.

We really enjoyed the tour given by one of the volunteers. She took us through each of the buildings and explained the history behind it. The tour took about an hour to walk main street and see all the buildings. History buffs will love this place. It is a shame that there isn't enough money in the state to take better care of this historic town. I highly recommend it for families.

There are multiple trails in the area, which are accessible from the overlooks. You can also get a view from the campground on the east side of the park. Pick up a map and pay the park fee at the museum in North Bloomfield. The ranger there can provide recommendations based on you time-frame and desired level of hiking. The history is excellent and the amount of earth moved through the hydro-mining process is amazing.

It got too hot to do any hiking, the small lake at the end of town was nice to picnic. You need to go there when it is cooloer

Super idyllic and well maintained little park. The townsite of Bloomfield is beautiful and will worth a day trip. The hikes around the mine are fantastic.The service around the place is sorely lacking. The museum/visitor center was supposed to be opened at 10am and was still closed when we got there on a weekend at 11:30am. The reservation website said that the cabins were available for walk-ins the day we came but the ranger said they never do walk-ins. The daily tour they have posted wasn't happening either for unspecified reasons. If you go, double and triple check everything because most of the posted information on the web site and at the visitors center is erroneous.The cabins were meticulously clean, peaceful and well maintained but very rustic and uncomfortable. Bring any chairs, padding and lightening you think you may need.All in all a great place to visit but keep your plans flexible as you can never be sure what may be happening there.

Amazing history of gold mining and a chance to actually go down into the gold mine. The owners home was nearby which was beautifully done.

Although the gold mining aspect of the park is a sad monument to man's tendency to befoul his own environment, other parts of the park are beautiful and natural. Good hiking, lovely river spots. A good place to go.

This state park is very surreal-like at the actual sites of the gold mining process . . . looks like a miniature Bryce Canyon (as far as the colors are concerned) . . . we were the only ones there which made it seem even more "eerie". There is also a ghost town (North Bloomfield) within the park which is worth checking out AND there is a tour offered also , but check the time . . . I think that the tour is around Noon - we would have gone but arrived around 4:00 PM at the ghost town. It is a fairly large park and has some interesting roads that go through it , but be careful - they are steep and narrow. If you are in the area it is definitely worth the time that you will spend visiting it.

This is a very historical location. It shows the damage done by early gold miners using hydraulic mining techniques, but now nature has reclaimed most of the land turning it into interesting shapes and colors. Good for a day trip or camping. Hot in summer, so spring and fall are best.