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Kennedy Gold Mine –
The Kennedy Mine was one of the richest gold mines and deepest in the Mother
Lode and you can still see a lot of mining equipment, a big stamp mill,
and a spacious mining office where gold was turned into gold bars (and the
safe where the gold was kept). The mine was discovered in the Gold Rush, but produced the most gold ore in the early 20th century, and the mine remained open until 1942. |
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Tours are available on weekends, March
– though October. |
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Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park – Run around Kennedy mine tailing
wheels, huge wooden wheels that transported tons of crushed rock slush and debris away from the gold
mine. |
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There were four different wheels, each one used to carry the debris up and over the hill. At the top of the hill, the biggest wheel, #4, has been restored and is enclosed in a protective building. Just below that, see wheel #3, rather collapsed into bleached wood and bolts. |
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Go over the hill (west) across from the park, to see crumbly wheel #2, and wheel #1, the smallest wheel, but well preserved amidst the oak trees. |
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The park is delightful for an outdoor lunch, picnic tables in the shade, and restrooms. |
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Amador County Museum – At the Amador County Museum,
see inside a 19th century house and check out a scale model of the Kennedy
Gold Mine. Outside there's a small stamp mill and the "Amador Cannonball,"
a bright red locomotive. |
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Detert Park – The public swimming pool is very inviting
on a summer's day, and there are picnic tables and a playground with climbing structures in the park. |
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Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park (Pine Grove –
Volcano Rd.) – For centuries, the Miwok people lived in the Sierra
foothills along creeks and rivers. They left behind hundreds of mortar holes
where acorns were ground in the limestone rocks. Visit the grinding rock
where you can see the grinding holes and petroglyphs. Run around the reconstruction
of a Miwok village, bark-covered roundhouses. |
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In the Chaw'se Regional Indian Museum there are exhibits and
artifacts such as basketry, jewelry and arrow points. (Chaw'se means "grinding
rock" in Miwok.) |
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Black Chasm Cavern (15701 Pioneer Volcano Rd. Volcano) – A cave tour takes you 60 feet down, through a narrow opening
in the rock that opens into a cavern decked out with stalactites
and stalagmites. On the way you'll see formations such as the carrot
patch, cave
bacon, and Rapunzel's hair.
The unique feature of this cavern is helictites, calcium-rich formations
that look like spikey Silly String sprayed over the cave walls. |
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Tip: The tour isn't that long and the stairs aren't
that tiring, but kids can't be carried and no babies in backpacks. |
