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    Gold Rush Museum

    4.3 (16 reviews)
    Closed 10:30 am - 4:00 pm

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    It's on the same level immersion-wise as most theme parks... AND ITS FREE! Great place for children to learn Just stop by

    Robert W.

    Small, quaint museum in Auburn. Expected it to be boring but the staff made it entertaining. They'll teach you how to pan for gold. So you can make some money just just going

    Isa W.

    Rebecca showed us around, she was amazing. She had so much knowledge and great with keeping my daughters engaged. Mining with us to show us how to find the gold was super fun as well.

    Lots of interesting info in a little place. The workers were super friendly and very knowledgeable. Could always be bigger and have more to do but definitely worth a quick stop while you're in town. The huge sculpture outside is super cool too!

    Characters if they Tweeted their thoughts.

    April 1, 2002 Update should be 1,131 of any updated comments. My first two has Sixteen Votes and has twenty one votes. Wow, instead now Fridays to Sundays one pm to four pm, he says this the first day museum is open regular hours. That will be Fridays to Sundays ten thirty am to four pm. Maybe in June, they will add Wednesdays and Thursdays. Even a guided tour of sorts. Two other people from Nevada and a family of four from town in California call Rocklynn. Not sure of correct spelling, to me sounds like that. The father of Rocklynn recognizes the docent. "You were my fifth grade teacher here in Auburn." They talk of the ways people came to California during Gold Rush days. There are the characters. A scale where one can weigh themselves, see what they worth in Gold. Stamp mills. The scales the assayer weighs the gold. If was not pyrite, but was actual gold, the assayer would weigh the gold. Great museum.

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    Photo of Cory N.
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    27 days ago

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    8 months ago

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    1 year ago

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    9 months ago

    A FREE fun spot to learn about Auburn's gold rush history with interactive activities! Definitely worth a stop!

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    Photo of Robert W.
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    2 years ago

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    Photo of Karyn C.
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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The staff blew me away with how nice they were. They even let us keep the gold that we found while panning.

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    11 years ago

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    19 years ago

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    Photo of Metallic O.
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    18 years ago

    Friendly volunteers. Initially difficult to find. Average exhibits. Good to visit if you're already seeing other museums in the area.

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    12 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    Review Highlights - Gold Rush Museum

    If was not pyrite, but was actual gold, the assayer would weigh the gold.

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    Bernhard Museum Complex - Wedding dress

    Bernhard Museum Complex

    4.5(24 reviews)
    0.9 mi

    Customer Service is amazing. The docent gave us an amazing tour at the end of her shift. I would…read morerecommend this place to others. Filled with history I never knew. I would love to come back during a living tour, like the kids get to enjoy when they come on their bus tour. Location: Convient to freeway. Free parking in their own lot. Winery: There is a winery in the own winery. It's quite fascinating as to how cool it is. Bathroom: They have an outdoor own for all to use.

    This is a historic site that used to be an inn & winery that you can visit for free. There is a…read morehouse & grounds to explore. We made an impromptu visit while in the area. When we entered, we were welcomed by 2 docents dressed in period outfits to join an ongoing tour. While there, we only had time to see & hear about the first floor rooms, but they also go up to the second floor. It was neat to see so many furnishings & get a lot of history & information about the life of the family. The docents were knowledgeable & full of facts they wanted to share. They were interactive, answered questions, & invited visitors to venture guesses about things. Because of the tour format & wealth of information that the docents have, it does take some time. Also, because visitors were trickling in at different times & joining the ongoing tour, some information would get repeated to catch everyone up. We did walk around some of the grounds freely. If you're interested in the Victorian Era & local history, this is a worthwhile spot to see. Apparently there are some seasonal changes to the decor around the holidays. It's probably not a great spot to visit with very young kids because of the amount of patience needed to stand, listen, & not touch anything.

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    Bernhard Museum Complex - Kitchen

    Kitchen

    Bernhard Museum Complex - House in background behind the winery building

    House in background behind the winery building

    Bernhard Museum Complex - Fruit tree blossoms

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    Fruit tree blossoms

    Old Town Auburn - 9/16/22 Cool name and spot to take a break

    Old Town Auburn

    4.4(19 reviews)
    0.8 mi

    From my separate City of Auburn review:…read more Auburn is an attractive city, especially Old Town Auburn, which attracts passersby on the highway between Reno and Sacramento with the quaint architecture on a hill flanked by a giant sculpture. Its small-town charm is likely why movies like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Breakdown, Wisdom, and xXx had scenes shot here, but the town relates most to the 1996 John Travolta movie Phinome Phenomin Phenomm Look Who's Talking. The guy who discovered gold here in 1849 was memorialized by Ken Fox with a 45-ton concrete (rebar and wire mesh) statue at the entrance of Old Town. Ken Fox was a dentist able to do this in between teeth cleanings and forcing customers to look at super close-up pictures of their teeth in order to sell "special deep teeth cleaning" by the quadrant. This dentist has more "Great Statues" in the area which you'd likely find ful-"filling". Get it? Anyway, it's right off the highway, so stop there and check out Old Town. (Check my reviews on Edelweis 2 and the California Club)

    Quality/Quantity - What a cool active town, see pictures…read more(and/or their website) of some current events. This might be our new pit stop...? Or a designated location? We usually go to downtown Auburn, so I am glad we came to Old Town this time. Atmosphere - Cool historic town. Lots of locally owned shops. Plenty of places to eat. Walk friendly but not sure if ADA friendly. Dog friendly, at least at the brewery. :) Service - Good, everyone we met was friendly. Price - Depends on where you shop, eat, and drink. Owner Comment - What a great fun town, looking forward to coming back soon when I have more time.

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    Old Town Auburn - 9/16/22 Cool, current promotion

    9/16/22 Cool, current promotion

    Old Town Auburn
    Old Town Auburn

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    Historic Courthouse - Some history

    Historic Courthouse

    4.7(6 reviews)
    0.7 mi

    My friend and I were strolling around Old Town Auburn when we saw this very grand building on top…read moreof the hill. We both wondered if that's their City Hall... Convinced that it probably is (it's not), we decided to hike up the hill to take a closer look only to realize as we hiked up that it was a lot farther away. Also we were surprised at the very steep hills here. So we made the decision to walk back down toward the center of Old Town and drove the parked car up to what we now realized is the Historic Courthouse. Built in 1898, it is now also the site of the current Placer County Superior Court (2nd floor) and The Placer County Museum which is located on the 1st floor. Of note, there's a Placer County women's jail (exhibit) which is a makeshift cell underneath the north staircase that was put here in 1905 due to it being too expensive to house women prisoners in local hotels and too dangerous to house them with men in the main jail. Located on Maple Street and Union Street.

    This is a really cool historic courthouse. THE FOLLOWING WAS…read moreCPOIED FROM THE WEB SITE: Built in 1898, this courthouse is an elegantly-designed look into the history of Auburn. The beautifully restored Courthouse, which echoes many of the design elements in the state capital building, The Placer County Museum is also located on the first floor of the courthouse. They also have a historical small jail room that was built especially for women because prior to that they could not intermingle men and women in the same jail cells so they would put them up in a hotel room prior to this jail, self being built. The grounds are very well kept and there are plenty of photo ops.

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    Historic Courthouse - A model of the Historic Auburn Court House

    A model of the Historic Auburn Court House

    Historic Courthouse
    Historic Courthouse

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    Gold Rush Museum - museums - Updated September 2026

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