Grass Valley, CA
EMPIRE MINE is a State Park right in the middle of Grass Valley. It totals around 700 beautiful acres. Very easy access and the staging (parking) area is easy to get to and has ample room to park your rig. There is a combination on "Penn Gate" which is 1941. Lock gate behind you. The trails are marked and easy to follow. The "Osborn Loop" takes about 1 hour to ride at a walk and is a nice wide road. Theses trails are shared with hikers, parents pushing baby carriages, Mt. bikers, Llamas, and I have even seen a goat in harness pulling a little red cart! So, expect "everything" on the trail.
You can cross Hwy 174 and ride on more trails. "The Mine" can be ridden all year around as the ground stays good with just a few muddy areas in winter. The endurance folks use it to condition their horses when most other trails around here are too wet. So far, we have not been able to officially get carriages on the trails, but we are working on it. While you are there take time to take a tour of the Mine and park itself. A wonderful piece of history. The buildings and grounds are majestic.
It cost $1.00 to enter the Park area, check out the information center and take a free guided tour if you want. There is no charge to ride the trails, just lock the gate behind you.
You get trail maps at the visitor center. Great place to ride even in the heat, trails are all shaded. Nothing very steep for a ridden horse. Trails for horses seem to all be jeep wide.
Sally says there is only about one mile of driving into the mine (plus the mile back out). After that the trails narrow and become steep.
Directions:
Hwy. 49 to Grass Valley. Fairgrounds Turnoff, but go Rt. on Empire Street.
Short distance, 1/2 to 1 mile. The staging area in on your Right side.
Not a good place for a group drive.
Info provided by Lynge Simoni (LSimoni197@aol.com),
Sally Baker (sallyb@gv.net),
Cheri Barnes (crbarnes@oro.net), Marcia
Patterson (patt@onemain.com)
06/19/2001