Location: County: Tuolumne. Nearest City: Columbia
(Sonora).
Campsites, facilities: No campsites. Point of interest
to visit while on tour.
Reservations, fees: Call the park for information.
Contact: Phone the park at 1-209-532-0150 or FAX at
1-209-532-5064.
Email: calavera@goldrush.com Web site: www.sierra.parks.state.ca.us/cshp.htm
Columbia SHP
22708 Broadway
Columbia CA 95310
Operating hours, seasons: Facilities open at 9 a.m.
and most businesses are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours may
change seasonally. Call the park for information; open all year
round. Museum Hours: The park's museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5
p.m.
Directions: Columbia State Historic Park is three miles
north of Sonora, off Highway 49.
Weather, clothing: At an elevation of 2,100 feet in
the Sierra Nevada, summer days can be hot and evenings can cool
down quickly. Winters are rainy, with snow at times.
Trip notes: The park was once known as the "Gem
of the Southern Mines." Between the 1850s and 1870s over
one-half billion dollars in gold (at today's value) was mined
in the area. For a time, Columbia was the second largest city
in California. Unlike many other settlements that disappeared
due to fire, vandalism and time, Columbia survived. It was never
completely deserted. In 1945 the State Legislature made the site
a State Historic Park in order to preserve a typical Gold Rush
town, an example of one of the most colorful eras in American
history.
The town's old Gold Rush-era business district has been preserved,
with shops, restaurants and two hotels. Visitors have the chance
to time-travel to the 1850s, imagining life when gold miners
rubbed shoulders with businessmen and the other residents in
Columbia. Visitors can experience a bygone era watching proprietors
in period clothing conduct business in the style of yesterday.
There are opportunities to ride a 100 year-old stagecoach, hire
a "fine steed" for a horseback ride through the "diggins,"
pan for gold, or tour an active gold mine.
Visitors can taste hand-dipped chocolates, a superior cup
of coffee, or savor fine dining, family fare, or purchase picnic
provisions. There's also the chance to relax at one of two comfortable
hotels or listen to toe-tapping music in historic saloons. Visitors
can make a candle or purchase Columbia made soap, wooden toys,
old fashion clothes, or dress-up for a photograph. They can take
a walk to the two-story brick school house and cemetery overlooking
town, or hike the one-mile nature trail where mule deer and wild
flowers can be seen.
Adjacent Visitor Attractions: Railtown 1897 State Historic
Park, with a turn-of-the- century roundhouse and exhibits, is
nearby in Jamestown.
© 2001, Miwok Lodge 439, Order of the
Arrow, Santa Clara County Council Inc., BSA
Revision 1.2
