Old Sacramento Underground

Sherif George «Tight-​Knot» was an exceptional tour guide so if you book, make sure it’s with him. Well planned and laid out tour, looking at the underside of Sacramento. Good for history buffs, architects, engineers, archeologists and the like.

Would be nice if the office would answer their phones during business hours. Between 1pm and 1:30pm on a Thursday, we telephoned consistently for over 20 minutes trying to reach someone to confirm the exact location of the tours to no avail. Their automated phone system would say press zero to speak to someone, yet «someone» never answered. We were driving from a distance and visiting specifically for the 2pm tour.
When we arrived there was no apology from the person at the counter when we expressed our disappointment — disappointment driving all back and forth, back and forth trying to find their location (of course the GPS says the location is on a specific road, which it’s not — it sits to the back side of the Rail Road Museum).
Due to no fault of their own, we were stopped & delayed at the entrance to downtown (right as you turn into downtown at the bridge) do to construction. Unfortunately, we arrived between 2:05 and 2:10pm missing the last tour of the day.
Being shocked when told the tour had already left, I asked if anyone answers their phones? The only reply given was, «you can come back tomorrow to our 11am tour». I don’t think we’ll be making the 60+‘s mile round-​trip to come back anytime soon. An «I’m sorry» goes a long way. :(

Wow — what a great tour! It was just an hour long with the «Sheriff» (tour guide in character) over the Labor Day Weekend and it was informative, fun, and never boring. It was so good that it was sad that the tour was over so quickly!
You buy your ticket at the Old Sacramento Museum in Old Sacramento. If you want to visit the Museum itself, that’s a separate fee. It will cost $ 3.00 additional if you want to visit the Museum after the Tour otherwise, it’s full price if you come back another day to visit the Museum, so plan ahead. (Prices subject to change.)
The tour takes you inside «underground spaces» where you can view what Sacramento used to look like in the 1860s and 1870s and how they lifted up the entire town out of the flood waters. I suggest to wear «shoes» if you don’t want 1860s «dirt» between your toes (and whatever else is in that dirt). Lots of interesting artifacts to look at, but unfortunately, since it’s a guided tour, you don’t have time to really «linger» and read what it’s all about, etc. (And yes, it can get humid down in those «spaces», so perhaps it’s best not to linger …)
I highly recommend this tour.

Myself and some friends went to the underground adult tours and it was so fun! I loved Miss Odessa, she was so cute and I was in love with her costume and character. It was really interesting to learn about Sacramento’s early history and what I liked is Miss Odessa kept it real, she talked about the violence, prostitution, and the overall harsh reality of the time. There were some interactive parts and she loved picking on people, but that’s what made it fun. I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot. The adult tour talks more about the violence and prostitution, so that one is obviously not suitable for children!

I have been wanting to do this tour for quite sometime & with our two granddaughters visiting from Missouri we decided to go. Our guide was so informative and she made it fun for the kids! We all learned so much about Sacramento history. If you are thinking of going, don’t hesitate. Great tour!

I enjoyed the ‘adult’ underground tour this week. Miss Odessa was the perfect guide, she stayed in character the entire time, and gave us an interesting history lesson about Sacramento.

I had been wanting to go on this tour for a couple years now. Finally did it this weekend. It was ok… I think a little pricey for what you get to see. The history is awesome though. The tour guide was great. I hear the adult tour is the better tour. Perhaps another day?

I have actually been on the tour like 6 times. No two have been the same even though they cover most of the same places. Every tour guide is different and tells different stories. My most recent tour was interactive with interesting activities to get us thinking like a resident of early Sacramento

Really, really fun and informative!!! It is a must do when in Old Sac. Lots of history and interesting too. Our tour guide was awesome and told us some really interesting facts. Reasonably priced as well. We cannot wait to check out the adult only underground tour sometime. Things sell out fast to I recommend ordering ahead!!!

My wife and I just did the adult tour and may I say that we had a blast. It was very informative and they engage the audience a lot. Everyone was friendly and very knowledgeable about Sacramento and its history. I would highly recommend this to anyone.

The Old Sacramento Underground tour, (adult tour –evening tour) is definitely a highlight of Old Sac. It’s Sacramento history with an element of the raunchier side of the sign of those times. Lots of cool historic insight as well as humor. Our guide was Miss Odessa, complete with period attire and attitude. She was great! A perfect guide to a fun tour.

We arrived at 11:40 and did the 12 tour. We paid for the tour at the counter of the museum, which is located inside & to the right of the entrance. We walked around the museum area then sat down & waited for the tour to begin. Our guide, Tina, was very nice and informative! We were all given a device to put around our neck so we can hear her speak, and headphones to wear as well. It was a hot day, so she even gave a hand-​held paper fan to those who wanted one.
The tour started outside, near the river area, then we walked to the town area and entered underground by Firehouse Alley. You walk on a wooden platform underground and can smell the musty, dirty smell from being underground. Throughout the tour you can read things and see artifacts and learn the history of the town. I was one of the volunteers to help use a «jack» to demonstrate how buildings were lifted using jacks.
The tour continues back outside and then underground again in a different building. The tour ends near the entrance of the museum, where you turn in your headphones and devices. ((we got to keep our fan)).
YOU CAN NOT TAKE PHOTOS UNDERGROUND ON THE TOUR, AS IT IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. You can only take photos outside. After our tour here, we walked next door to the train museum.
I plan to return some evening in Oct. to do the ghost tour… can’t wait.
((there are meter parking spaces you can park at, which I believe are 2 hours max. I did see meter maids giving out tickets. We didn’t want to bother with rushing back to feed a meter so we parked in a parking garage… the one by Joe’s Crab Shack)). It depends how much time you want to spend walking around Old Town. We went on a hot day so our car stayed cool in the parking garage.

Have been wanting to do this tour for sometime and July 4 was the perfect time. Our group was pretty good sized, about 20 or so. LOVE the headsets. How smart of them to think of it. It totally allows you to explore a little on your own and everyone isn’t squished up against the leader and everyone can hear!!! That was great.
The first part of the tour is a history lesson about Sacramento and Old Sac in particular and is spent above ground. The second part is more history of Old Sac and the Gold Rush and it’s spent above ground. The third part of more history and you guess it, it’s above ground.
We FINALLY get to go Underground and it’s pretty cool and interesting. We leave that building and go into another underground building that is a archaeological dig site, so that was pretty interesting too. Then we leave the building and learn more about outside.
So it’s about ²⁄₃ outside and ¹⁄₃ underground. I was expecting more underground stuff, since that’s what the name of the tour was, so we were disappointed in that. And you can’t take any pics when you are underground either.
With that said, the tour guide as awesome, the interesting facts and history lessons were interesting and it held our attention. We just wished we would have gone underground more. It was a little pricey for an hour walk around Old Sac.

I bought tickets for my husband and I up for the 11am tour on Sunday June 29, 2014. It was awesome Steve was our tour guide and we ended up being the only two people on the tour! So we received our own private tour!!! Fabulous!!! Online the private tour cost is $ 300! What a bargain we received!
Learned a lot about the early days of Sacramento. Which I found very interesting. Learned about how they «jacked» the city up. Now when I look around at the buildings I see them in a whole new light.
Loved the tour.
Want to do the adult evening tour now! I want to learn more about the seedier side of Sacramento start!

It was surprisingly interesting. The details and history is something every Sacramento area resident should know.
I felt like it may be a little overpriced for what it is, but that is just my opinion.
Our tour guide Rose seemed pretty knowledgeable on the history and answered any questions anyone had.

Ahhhh! This tour was so much fun.
So the SO and I have been wanting to check out this tour for a while. We ordered tickets well in advance because apparently, the Adult Underground Tour (evening only) is very popular.
We parked in the parking structure and it was $ 5 to park. Since the parking is free after 6pm, I’d recommend parking in the meters and paying a couple quarters vs the structure. We just didn’t know the situation.
Overall, the tour was really fun. It was 1.5 hours of stories about Old Sacramento and we were able to walk into some underground areas where they store artifacts. The tour guide made it very entertaining.
And what did we get at the end? A really nifty book about Sacramento and $ 2 coupons for beers or free sarsaparilla. Not too bad. I would recommend for anyone new to the Sac area. We loved it.

I had taken the regular underground tour about a year prior and figured the adult tour would be something fun for a meetup group activity. I love all the rich history in this area and find it all fascinating, even what most would consider «boring».
Everyone is gathered in the lobby and our guide, Miss Odessa, comes in. From the moment she came out to the end of the tour, this woman had me in stitches!!! She is absolutely an entertaining gem! We had some technical difficulties with the listening devices and she just rolled right through it. I like that she stayed in character the whole time, actually recounting historic events from the first person. «As a proper, independent woman.» and all. ;-)
So, yes, there are only two buildings that you actually get to go into underground but I think it’s enough of a representation on what it was like to really get a feel for how it was. I do wish we could take pictures but apparently the buildings are not owned by the museum, are leased, and they are under contract. Plus, they are still considered active archaeological digs and they don’t want just anyone knowing about what’s down there. I get it. And the process for raising the streets and buildings is phenomenal! Hard to believe they did it without machinery or any modern technology. Well, no wonder it took 15 years!!!
While I don’t think there was all that much more that was too adult for kiddos, it was still nice to go on the tour in the evening without children running around. I did learn more about the Hall & Luhr’s building, how it was home to several «professional» women… and Miss Odessa used that term loosely. hee hee
I would definitely recommend this to anyone, local or tourist, to experience at least once.

Fun and Different!!! I’m not sure what I expected, but I was amused.
History lesson… Yep, just solidified what I knew about Sacramento City and the Levee system. I really enjoyed the underground views, but hoped for more!
Adult tour??? Not sure if «I» would say it was Adult, but to each His/​Her own.
I think everyone should experience a little History!!!

I’m very big on haunted locations so that is what inspired my trip to the underground tunnels in the first place. Unfortunately for me this was not a haunted tour so I didn’t get what I expected. It was still very educational, I did learn a lot about the states capital that I didn’t know.
The tour guide was very nice and informative. The headset had a couple of glitches so sometimes we had to go without them and it was a little hard to hear what she was saying at times. It is pretty hot down there so make sure to dress accordingly.
You are not allowed to take pictures underground so that was kind of a buzz kill, so don’t bother to take your camera specifically for the tunnels. They don’t discuss the real dark topics about the underground tunnels, like the criminal activities, the prostitution, or the immigrant trafficking that happened through those tunnels. So that was a drag too. They have an «adult» tour in the summer time where they do discuss these topics (so they say) but I have not taken that tour yet.
So if you just want to educate yourself on the history of the city of Sacramento then this is for you! Hope you enjoy! :D

Probably The Most Over-​Touted Aspect of Old Sacramento, But Still Fun
SITREP
If you desire a history lesson of the locations in Old Sacramento, and a view of some of the original architecture, this can be a fun stop.
SETUP
In terms of sharing the history of Sacramento Valley, you get a better deal over at Sutter’s Fort. There you have a lot of original structures, indepth history lesson, and an automated speaker-​system that gives you major milestones in the Sacramento Valley.
No so much here. More expensive, less accessible, this tour is not as user-​friendly. However, it IS conveniently located IN Old Sacramento, so when taken in conjunction with the Military Museum, the Railroad Museum, and an plethora of excellent lunch and/​or dinner stops, you can’t beat the location.
RIVERFRONT
There is a lot of unique history that is shared because of the burgeoning commerce that existed when Sacramento was mainly known as a business stop along the Sacramento River. This WAS the hub of activity when the Gold Rush of 49′ hit and so this tour has some unique tidbits of information that are unique to that time.
But in terms of a total underground tour, this does not compare to the underground tour in Pioneer Square in Seattle and the similar history that is shared there.
THE LOWDOWN
A decent, but average history tour for those satisfied with gaining a better knowledge of local history.