Summer Road Trip! The Gold County Part II: Columbia State Historic Park

The highlight of our recent road trip to California's Gold Country was our visit to Columbia State Historic Park in the Tuolumne County town of Columbia. In fact, much of Columbia is the park itself. While most of the small Mother Lode towns along Highway 49 are just dripping with history, Columbia takes this to an extreme due to the fact that its old downtown has been preserved to represent its mid-19th century heyday. It's the best preserved Gold Rush town, and a fantastic place for families with children since there's a lot to do and see. The downtown state park part of Columbia is also closed to vehicular traffic (stagecoaches excepted), so it's safe and families literally have the run of the place.

Columbia, founded in 1850 as "Hildreth's Diggings," is so authentic that it's been used as the backdrop for numerous Hollywood westerns, including the classic 1952 High Noon. The downtown streets are lined with classic brick buildings with iron shutters, a typical kind of architectural style here in the Mother Lode, one that many towns turned to after fire kept burning down the wooden structures! The buildings in Columbia house a small museum and historical displays, including fire houses, the Wells Fargo Express office, a Chinese shop, and an assay office.

What makes Columbia unique is that a number of the shops are occupied by actual businesses that cater to visitors to the park. Stroll along Main Street and you'll find saloons, a working blacksmith shop selling ornamental iron items, a book store, a photography studio that specializes in authentic 19th-century style wet collodion processes like daguerrotypes and ambrotypes, and a candy shop that makes old fashioned sweets on site. You can ride a stagecoach through town, pan for gold (we did it and actually found a few flakes), listen to live music, or get an ice cream cone at the Fallon Ice Cream Parlor.

We were lucky enough to arrive in time for Gold Rush Days, an event held from 1–4 pm of the second Saturday of every month where costumed docents staff a variety of different venues in the town. We rang the bell on the 1859 hand tub fire engine in Firehouse #2, and spent a lot of time playing 19th-century children's games. Other open venues can include the schoolhouse, the Wells Fargo office, and the ten-pin bowling saloon.

We enjoyed taking a break at the family-friendly Jack Douglass Saloon, originally established in 1857 and still offering beer, locally made sarsaparilla and wild cherry soda, and food to thirsty and hungry visitors. The clientele is a mix of locals drinking beer and chatting at the bar, and visiting families eating lunch and drinking sarsaparilla, which, by the way, was really good and a cheap treat at $1.50 a mug. You even got refills if you bought a snack to munch on, too. The presence of a burly bearded guy pounding out traditional tunes on an upright piano added greatly to the atmosphere. (He's there regularly on Saturdays.) We liked it so much we went back the next day for lunch (with more sarsaparilla). They don't offer gourmet fare, but you can fill up on inexpensive hot dogs, sandwiches, nachos, and chili.

Other lunch and refreshment stops in town include Brown's Coffee House and Sweets Saloon (originally Haag and Heynemann's San Francisco Lager Beer Saloon from 1855), the St. Charles Saloon, the Hungry Prospector hot dog cart, and the City Hotel Restaurant and What Cheer Saloon. There are plenty of picnic tables scattered throughout Columbia, so packing a picnic lunch is an option as well.

While you're in town, don't miss the opportunity to visit the old 1860s Columbia Schoolhouse, located just outside of downtown up a hill. You can walk there on a well marked trail, or drive and park in the small lot next to the school. Adjacent to the school grounds is the Columbia Cemetery, which is worth a stroll to see the resting places of many of the town's Gold Rush era inhabitants. It's quiet and peaceful and kind of a nice change from the bustling downtown.

We stayed at the Gunn House Hotel in nearby Sonora (about a 10-minute drive), but if you're so inclined you can book a room at one of Columbia's historic hotels: the City Hotel and the Fallon Hotel. Both are authentically decorated with period furnishings, for a real step-into-the-past experience, and are even rumored to be haunted.

Columbia is home to a number of different events throughout the year, including parades, a 4th of July celebration, living history displays, and more. For a full schedule of events, visit www.columbiacalifornia.com. Admission to Columbia is free, making it a great deal in our book. There's plenty of free parking as well.