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Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Empire Mine is the site of the oldest and richest gold mine in California. Despite having only 20% of the available gold extracted (5.8 million ounces of gold by weight) the mine closed in 1956 after 106 years of production and now is preserved as a California state park. The visitor center has diagrams and models of the mine, and numerous items of mining machinery are on show inside the park. Visitors have the opportunity to enter the top of the mine shaft. The state park also has many miles of riding, walking and mountain biking trails.
Empire Mine State Historic Park is a state-protected mine and park in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Grass Valley, California, U.S. The Empire Mine is on the National Register of Historic Places, a federal Historic District, and a California Historical Landmark. Since 1975, California State Parks has administered and maintained the mine as a historic site. Situated in the Grass Valley Mining District, the Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California". Between 1850 and its closure in 1956, the Empire Mine produced 5.8 million ounces of gold, extracted from 367 miles (591 km) of underground passages.
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