Nevada City & Grass Valley, CA
Nevada City still looks like 1870: gas lamps, steep brick streets, and a firehouse that’s probably the most photographed building in the county. Grass Valley is four miles down the road, where Cornish miners dug out a fortune and left behind a meat pie the whole town still lives on. Early November is a good time to go. The summer crowds are gone, the river canyon is quiet, and the downtown maples are close to the end of their color. This trip is about Gold Rush history you can actually walk into, and it moves slowly enough that nobody asks how much longer.
3-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Gas lamps and pasties
Get a pasty in Grass Valley before you check in. Marshall’s Pasties (203 Mill St.) has been making them since 1968. Grass Valley Pasty Co. (100 S. Auburn St.) is the newer shop, and its “Cousin Jack” is the traditional one: steak, potato, turnip. Buy one at each and have the kids pick a winner.
Wander downtown Nevada City at dusk. Walk Broad Street once the gas lamps come on. Get a photo of Firehouse No. 1 on Main Street. The museum inside is appointment-only in winter, but the outside is what everyone photographs anyway.
Where to stay: Stay downtown in either town so you can walk to dinner. The historic hotels are worth it on this trip.
Day 2: Inside a real gold mine
Empire Mine State Historic Park, opening at 10am. It ran for more than a century and was one of the richest gold mines in California. Kids can look down the main shaft, and the owner’s stone “cottage” and gardens are like something out of an English manor. Winter hours are 10–4.
Find the “Secret Room.” It holds a detailed 3D model of the mine’s tunnels. Mine managers kept it hidden from the public, and it’s the stop kids talk about afterward.
Afternoon treat: The Truffle Shop in Grass Valley, a European bakery and chocolate shop that’s been open since 1986.
Day 3: The covered bridge (and a detour for adventurous families)
Walk the Bridgeport Covered Bridge at South Yuba River State Park. It was built in 1862, closed for ten years, and is open to people on foot again. It’s the longest single-span wooden covered bridge of its kind in the country. The park is open sunrise to sunset.
Hike the Buttermilk Bend Trail upstream from the bridge. It’s flat, follows the river, and works for little legs. The water is too cold to swim in November, but it’s good for skipping rocks.
The adventurous option: Malakoff Diggins. This was the world’s largest hydraulic gold mine. Miners blasted a canyon into the hillside, and the mess led to the first environmental law in the country. It looks like Bryce Canyon, and a restored ghost town sits next to it. It’s about 50 minutes from Nevada City. Don’t follow your GPS. Take Highway 49 to Tyler Foote Road and stay on pavement the whole way.
Come back in December: Nevada City’s Victorian Christmas returns Dec. 6, 9, 13, 16 and 20. It has carolers, roasted chestnuts, and gas lamps glowing over the whole street.
Your Weekend Passport Planner,
- Josh
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