I had family coming into town, and wanted to give them a fun experience in Sacramento. My nieces…read more(13, 11, 8) were a great age for this...and as a bonus, the two oldest had just studied the gold rush in school. We scheduled a private tour (VERY reasonably priced, $100 for a group up to 5 and then $17 for each person after that). Our tour guide, Rich, was very passionate about gold mining, and was entertaining for the adults and the kids. In a little over 2 hours, we had his complete attention for historical information and ask any questions we wanted, and were able to tour two mines, get lots and lots of history behind it (there were so many little tidbits learned it was pretty awesome!) and then we got a lesson on how to "pan for gold" and keep what we found. The tour includes that everyone will get gold (flakes) and possibly gemstones (we found peridot, garnet, something that looked like emerald but I can't remember what he called it, if not emerald, and quartz). Everyone left with a 1/2 ounce vile of their findings--and the kids were beyond excited about that. My 2 year old didn't have to pay, but Rich even got a pan out for her and she was able to take away her own treasure from the tour. During the tour, Rich also let the kids get interactive and do some hammering, and also pushing of the cart - pretty awesome. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this tour! You can go tour the park without a private tour, but Rich made our experience so wonderful, everyone was raving about how much fun we had and how interesting it was in the car on the way home. My family is new to California, we have been here a year, and I felt so pleased to have found this park, and be able to share this experience with my family visiting from the midwest. I have another family member coming next month and am considering taking the tour again! Thanks for a fantastic morning, Rich!

Brought family to this museum and it is a hidden gem. The docent Heather is extraordinarily gifted…read morein her delivery and explanation during the museum tour but she is also a local who knows and shares information you'd never learn elsewhere. The museum displays are presented in an orderly fashion with artifacts that are priceless and visually show you the history of El Dorado County. The museum is a great way to learn more about El Dorado county. If you are fortunate enough to have Heather as your guide you are going to learn so much in a short amount of time. Heather is a wealth of information and so willing to share! Thanks Heather!

This was my second time coming to The Skull Museum. The first time was at their old location and…read moreI'm honestly blown away by how beautiful the new space is. It's super spacious, bright, and thoughtfully laid out. They have an art gallery area, a section dedicated to displaying skulls, and even a break room space for everyone. I also loved how easy their website made the booking process. Being able to see each artist's work, pricing, and availability all in one place made it really convenient to plan and schedule time off. I was looking to finish my half sleeve and came across Christian Gonzalez's work on their site. I was immediately impressed and knew I had to book with him. I texted the number listed on the website and connected with Mackenzie, who was incredibly responsive, friendly, and quick to answer all my questions. She made the process really smooth, and I was able to secure an appointment about two weeks out! When I arrived, the whole staff was welcoming and friendly. Christian was professional, easy to talk to, and really took the time to understand my inspiration. He worked with me to design something that would flow well with a previous tattoo I already had, doing his best to blend everything together so it looked cohesive. He made sure I liked the design, adjusted details with me, and carefully worked on placement before we started. I got there right when they opened, and after discussing the design and him drawing everything out, we started around noon and wrapped up around 6pm. It's definitely a full day session, so bring snacks and maybe a zip up because it gets a little cold in there! Christian was incredibly gentle with the tattoo and constantly checked in to make sure I was comfortable or needed a break. He charges $1300 for a full day and in my opinion he is absolutely worth it!! I felt comfortable the entire time and I'm in love with how the tattoo turned out. I'll definitely be coming back to finish my sleeve and for any future work. If you're thinking about getting tattooed at The Skull Museum, JUST DO IT! and definitely check out Christian! Thanks again!!!

Don't know how this lousy tattoo artist owner got into tattooing! His work is ugly! he can't even…read moretrace decently! There's so much better tattoo artists out there! Go to reezytats on instagram! His work is beautiful and much better then nic westfall! Don't believe the positive reviews on here they fake reviews from friends and family!Go back to tattooing school nic!

This museum has exhibits in different first floor sections of the courthouse. We happened to go on…read morea holiday weekday when court wasn't in session, so it wasn't busy & it was an easy walk in. The outside architecture of the building is stately. When we entered the main area of the museum, we were nicely greeted by a staffer who explained different areas to see. She also told us about Heritage Trail stamp cards, which we started (6/6/26 to 9/12/26 event). There's quite a bit we saw including... 13+ lbs of gold in the Placer County Gold Collection Courthouse building history Fossils Stagecoach Sheriff's office set up Native American artifacts Railroad info Andrew Carnegie libraries legacy in the area Artwork Historical clothing styles Hands-on telegraph to learn Morse Code Photo cutouts & "Wanted" sign props that we had fun with This was a nicely laid out, richly educational, & interesting place to visit that didn't take a lot of time to see.

I recommend you visit the historic courthouse in Auburn, CA. The museum has plenty of interesting…read morestories and artifacts to explore. The courthouse is a well-known landmark in this charming and inspiring town.

We were exploring Grass Valley and decided to try North Star Mining Museum. It was too bad that it…read morelooked so small on the outside because we did not allow enough time to really enjoy all the exhibits. We started in the parking lot learning about the larger mining machines. It was a warm day and, at our advanced age, it took time for us to work our way down the driveway to the museum entrance. The docents were very knowledgeable and brought the exhibits to life. We were able to get about half way through the museum before we needed to get to our next appointment. Go see the North Star Mining Museum.

This place is awesome! Please make sure you've got at least an hour or 3. There's old tools on the…read moreoutside on display, a gorgeous river running along side to admire, inside the building there two rooms. The first room with displays and smaller parts they'd use to mine and the second room is where the big tools are! Steve and his volunteer were so kind turning on the big machines, showing how each tool worked and how they would mine the mountains. So much history, so many fascinating tools, interesting old time accessories, and so much information! If you're wondering how they started mining a mountain side to how they made the gold and what powered it all go check out North Star mining museum! This place makes you never want to leave, there's so much information here please take an hour to look around at least. You will have a great time whether you're 5 or 85, male/female or space creature the history of mining will fascinate your socks off. Check them out.

Brought my daughter here and we both loved it. The staff were super friendly and really into what…read morethey do -- u can tell they care about keeping history alive. The train ride was calm, scenic, and honestly just fun to experience together. The museum itself has some amazing old cars and engines, all restored beautifully. It's got that perfect nostalgic vibe but still feels fresh and hands-on for kids. Such a great spot to spend an afternoon -- highly recommend it for families or anyone who just loves classic trains.

We had such an amazing time here! While we didn't come on the weekend, so the shop was closed, that…read moredidn't ruin our time in the slightest. The worker Brian, showed us around the museum and was truly excellent. He was so helpful and kind and obviously very knowledgeable about the railroad. He engaged the kids by asking lots of questions and kept us all entertained. This museum teaches you a lot and isn't boring like a lot of others are. I'd definently recommend!

TIM! TIM! TIM! The…read morelifeblood & soul of this museum is a docent named Tim. A polite yet confident, friendly yet proud personality, Tim gave my girlfriend and I the museum experience of a century. Arriving at the museum, we were greeted by a docent at the entry who was quite kind to us and we enjoyed the initial room and science/medicine rooms - however, if you're the type who reads every line at a museum, you will enjoy it more than we did because the information was IMMENSE. Too much for my adhd brain, but perfect for an avid reader. But it was the carriage house that floored us. Tim greeted us nearly the moment we stepped through the doors to introduce himself as a volunteer at the museum. I figured he may give us a little intro and then let us parouse the 10,000sf facility but boy was I wrong. Tim proceeded to give us a guided private tour for what was easily the good part of an hour. Carriage by carriage, phonograph by phonograph, Tim passionately spoke on the most interesting history, anecdotes, untold tales, and intriguing facts about every item in front of us. It was as if he had plugged himself into the knowledge of the universe and was translating its binary into English for us to understand. I loved every moment and most importantly, I could see that HE loved every moment. We walked out having to look at our tickets to see if we had accidentally purchased VIP guided tour tickets. But no - that is just the character of Tim and of the people who run the museum. We finished at the mining building where we got a chance to see incredible historical items/devices/tools, as well as some BEAUTIFUL specimens of stones - including the 2 most gorgeous pieces of petrified wood I have EVER seen. The docent as this building raved about Tim as well but was no stolid volunteer herself - she was ALSO extremely friendly in her own right, offering us cold water on the hot day we toured. I cannot wait to go back and recommend this museum to any and all in the Angels Camp / Murphys area!

This museum has Gold County History- so much to see!! Wagon…read more& Carriage, Mining & Artisan exhibition and a Water Wheel Power Stamp Mill. In the same building is the Calaveras Visitor's Bureau! If you walk past the Visitors Bureau there is an interesting film on the Frog Jumping Contest and many Frog Facts!!