Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park

Great day trip if you live within 100 miles, hotel otherwise, I guess. Go on a sunny day, and do drive up to the Monument.
I’ve read that gold was actually discovered several years before, not here but in the Mother Lode area by Mexican diggers, and they kept it secret. You can see why by the result!

This outdoor museum is a must-​see attraction for anyone interested in California history. Check in at the brand new visitor’s center and sign up for a docent-​guided tour. We had Norm guide us and he was a pro. I have never seen someone make history as interesting and real as Norm. The walk starts out with some Native American background and artifacts and proceeds to the newly rebuilt Sutter’s Mill. Norm knew all the interesting details surrounding the discovery of gold in California and was able to weave them into a gripping narrative. Many historic buildings from the period have been preserved and are open for viewing. This excursion was well worth the time.

Awesome gold rush history! A must stop if you got kids close to 4^th grade! Yes, you have to self-​register and pay $ 8, but you don’t pay for an entrance fee for going thru all the exhibits. Pick up a map of the park, and there are plaques/​signs w a lot of information on them. There are a few people in costume you can talk to. We talked to a nice lady in costume and she gave us some interesting information about the stamp mill. The gold panning cost $ 7 each, but it’s fun and time just flies by when you are panning; a must do if u got kids!

Great picturesque site and amazing history. Take the guided tour! The replica of the sawmill has been rebuilt (summer of 2015). The visitor center is revamped and the bathrooms spotless. When done
With the tour walk across the bridge and try panning for gold yourself at the designated panning beach.

It does cost $ 8/​car to park, but the upside is you can use the same pass throughout the day at other state parks that charge by the car. We used it at the Emigrant Trail Museum (Donner Pass) earlier in the day.
The museum here is probably a 3 star. It does have some interesting info but it’s quite small. What we really enjoyed was driving around to the different areas of interest in town such as Sutter’s Mill site, the Mining ditches, James Marshall’s cabin, jail ruins, etc. You could walk this, but it was 106 while we were there, so driving was more enjoyable. You can see it all in about 1 ½ hours.

This place was just ok. Be warned it’s $ 8 for park entrance and there is no attendant if you self park unless you go to the visitor center. You either put exact change or a check in an envelop. It’s a bit of a pain. There is a brick wall on the original mill site but it looks like they are building a new mill display which will be nice when it’s done. It’s out of the way and not a lot to see. I was glad I went because it a cool spot from history but I will not go back and will not take visiting family. The gift shop is larger than the museum which is a little sad.

Check out the museum. it has a/​c and free wifi! Great little park to kill a couple hours and enjoy a picnic. There is a nice little snack shack on the river side of the road.
Test your wilderness lore by finding edible plants, berries, and nuts. We found over 15 on a short walk to the river!
Lots of cool old buildings and exhibits to see. A little piece of California history!

This is a great place to learn about the gold rush. I took my kids for some hands on learning and both of them loved it. It’s a quaint little ghost town of the gold rush era gone by. Great for picnics. They have a lot of picnic areas by the American River as well as close the Discovery Museum. They have trough gold panning for the kids at $ 7 a pan. A Park Ranger is there to walk you through the process of gold panning. My kids were able to get 3 specks of gold and some garnet and fools gold. The Discovery museum was small but my kids both thought it was pretty cool. I would recommend to parents, specially to 4^th grader parents.

Was here during their gold rush live event which was great. Lots of people dressed up in historical clothing explaining the various jobs and tasks of the period. There are also several historical buildings nearby which are set up as working stores and restaurants. Not sure if these are part of the park or not, but fun to see nonetheless.
The site of the gold discovery itself, though, is somewhat disappointing. It looks like a replica of the mill is being constructed, but at present there is only a plaque to mark the site. Good to say that you’ve been, but not much there to talk about.

We enjoyed the California History lesson and step back in time. The park and ranger staff were knowledgeable and helpful. Thank you!
We paid $ 7 to pan for gold and $ 3 for a guided tour led by a park ranger. Parking is $ 8.
The machinery used for extracting gold, the history of the many people groups who settled here and learning their way of life made the trip worthwhile.
Worthwhile visit.

Coloma Historic Park is a great way to spend the day. For a little place theirs tons to do. We walked the parks nature trail, read about James Marshall who was apparently the first person who yelled «Eureka» and announced theirs gold in them hills… we threw down a little frisbee, had a picnic, jumped in the river, stopped at the Argonaut for delicious gelato and watched the local blacksmiths make some cool stuff and finished the day off with a little gold panning. Tomorrow we’re going rafting down the rio with Earthtrek!

This review is just for the park tours that the museum gives. $ 3.00 for adults.
I had the pleasure of getting a private tour with Kenneth, one of the Park Rangers… because I was the only person who signed up for the tour that day (which was fine by me). Despite having been to Coloma twice before, this was the first time I had a chance to absorb the history of the city on my own. I am so glad I went on the tour. It covers the history of the city, the Indians, the life and times of John Sutter, James Marshall and Sam Brannan.
Even if you’ve walked around the park on your own, and read the signs around the park, you aren’t getting everything. You will get more history from this tour that the signs can provide. Also, the tour lead me to parts of the park I wasn’t aware of, despite thinking I had read all the signs on my past visits.
If you’re lucky to get Kenneth’s time, ask him some questions. He knows a lot about the city’s history, and the main players involved with the gold rush. He’s really happy to share his knowledge!
FYI, the 11:00 a.m. tour is the one to shoot for. The 1:00 p.m. tours tend to get cancelled due to hot weather.

Very nice place to spend a day. Kids will love gold panning. Adults enjoy it too. Very nice locations all along the river. The museum has lot of informations on gold rush in California. Can hike, bike or just relax.

I might get some serious flack for this but I am not a history buff nor am I really interested in it. I like reading a paragraph or so about the basic story of the goings on but I don’t care much when things get too in depth.
So why do I like this place? We’ll it’s because Coloma is such a cute and quaint town and it’s a beautiful state park.
To pay, you visit the very small museum and pay $ 8 per car. I just breeze through the place (gold was found blah blah by yadda yadda) and go straight to the gift shop. I love looking through the books, trinkets, jewelry, toys, and candies. My favorite candy is one that’s similar to a pixie stick. Such yum!
Then I take a walk outside to visit the Mill and just enjoy the scenery. There’s a lot of land and a lot of trees for shade and it seems like a great place for a picnic with benches everywhere. My little one likes to visit the teepees and run up and down and around the paths.
A little further down you can walk to the American River and see the site where… they found gold (I think. I’m pretty sure of it). It’s a nice walk, especially late in the afternoon when the sun is low and trickling through the trees.
Afterwards you can get some ice cream and refreshments back up the street at Argonauts Farm to Table Café which is so cute and yummy. Support local businesses!
There’s is a one lane bridge next door which you can walk over and take pictures of the river. When the light hits it just right it’s a Hipster’s wet Instagram dream.
It’s a great day trip, only 8 miles from Placerville so if you’re coming home from Tahoe early in the day, it’s a great little detour to stretch your legs.
*Also, though I don’t care much for general history I do like seeing how people lived in the past. There’s a small cabin where you can peer inside and see how they slept and cooked and basically lived their life. It’s fun to pretend and compare our lives to the past. There’s also a small building decked out as the general Chinese store. Both of these buildings were fun for me.

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Think of California Gold Rush era, it started here in 1840s, where James Marshall discovered gold nuggets along this South Fork American River in Coloma, CA and the rest is history.
Amazingly that later in his life, he died as a near poverty man. I love coming here, the entire park is peaceful, so rich in history, the State of California has done an amazing job to keep this lively for children and generations to come.
There’s a blacksmith house there with a real blacksmith, he shown us how they do things then. The actual El Dorado Hills County jail, the post office, the museum, the guide, the mills, and the educational sessions for kids and adult about searching for gold nuggets. The museum is expanding and the project should be complete later 2014, I’m looking forward to see that new building to be up.
Along the river, you can chill, and have a picnic with your love ones after a morning for learning about history. I, on the other hand, love to run along the river, and stop in for some sight seeing and people watching. Taken back in time, peaceful, and away from my hustling city life. It’s 1 of my getaway town.
It’s great for couple to getaway and perfect for family with young children 6 and over, it’s a great place to spend with your family, and you can do a day trip here from the Bay Area, affordable, educational, and beautiful nature got to offer.

This is where modern day California all began — and where one may even attribute the seemingly individualistic nature of Silicon Valley — it’s all from where James Marshall discovered that little nugget of gold. How cool is that. It is SO worth the trip over here to see what the town of Coloma was like — and think and reflect about all those years of history with the gold rush. Awesome.

Educational!
This was my second visit here. The first time was more like a ‘something to do’ day trip but I didn’t realize how huge this place would be and full of history about the gold rush era including a museum, gold panning lessons, blacksmith shop park exhibit, picnic grounds and many attractions and displays throughout the park, including Sutter mill. Went back for a second visit and took my 10-​yr old daughter here on a little field trip and she was intrigued with the experience because at the time they were learning about the California gold rush (1848 – 1855) in class, and its founder, James Marshall, who went in partnership with John Sutter. She was able to see and experience in person what it was like living back then during the era. We also went down to the river and did a little gold panning… boy! that was tough for me and her… lots of gold dust which we didn’t know how to put inside our little viles. We ended our trip by visiting the huge memorial of James Marshall which we had to drive to because it was quite a ways to walk from the museum.
There is a fee to visit and if you didn’t pay at the museum there are little box and instructions throughout the park where you can drop your $.
Overall, fun and very educational for me and the little one :)
We even made a video of our first visit:

A fun, historically interesting site. If you have any interest in how gold mining works and/​or mining towns operated this is the place to go. Lots of information and shops to check out as well as black smith and gold panning demonstrations.
I must mention the rather cool Marshall Gold Discovery App that you can use as a virtual tour guide, providing information (and occasionally, videos) about each major area. I would warn anyone who plans to use this to download before you go up as cell reception is pretty crappy up there (apparently there is wi fi available at the museum, but I was unaware of this at the time).
Day passes are somewhat hard to obtain if you don’t know to go up to the museum (cash or check into a little envelope). Really, if you have the tech to set up smart phone apps, you can bust out with an electronic parking meter-​like machines.
However, that really was my only annoyance, the rest was fun, informative and interesting.

Gold panning is some backbreaking work!
We were given a demonstration of the panning and when we got to it ourselves I found two specks of gold to keep as a souvenier. It’s a very nice place to have a picnic here (provided it’s not too hot) The forest surrounding it is really nice, you also will see some kayakers on the American River.
The only downside I could think of is that there were some spores in the air that triggered my sinuses a bit. I felt like sneezing every half hour or so.

This is a fun place to stop with the kids and learn about the gold rush. The cost is $ 8 per vehicle. Most of the exhibits are outside and/​or accessible from walking paths that are partially shaded. It was ideal for my rambunctious toddler. Unfortunately, many of the outdoor informational displays are faded and need to be restored. The indoor museum itself was well maintained and air-​conditioned which is really nice because this area is pretty hot in the summer. Many picnic tables are available some with grills.
There was a beautiful Clydesdale horse giving rides in a carriage. The price was $ 10 per family or group. The ride was one of the highlights of my toddler’s trip to gold country. I have to admit, it was pretty fun. Gold panning and other kid friendly activities are available. Most of the activities close up by three so plan to visit the park in the morning to enjoy all it has to offer.