Homeschool Trips in Amador County by Nicole Shebl
Are your kids homeschooled? Do you have a hard time finding lessons that keep them educated and entertained? The beauty of where we live in California is that there is so much rich history to explore! Amador County has an abundance of educational, self-guided and led tours that will get your kids excited about a field trip! If you live in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer San Joaquin or Calaveras County, many of these locations are about an hour from you.
While the self guided tours are just that, we do recommend calling ahead to make sure there are no road restrictions or weather hindering your visit.
Please come back and comment which was a favorite for the kids!!
Indian Grinding Rock – The Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum
The museum features a variety of exhibits and an outstanding collection of Sierra Nevada Indian cultural items. A Miwok village complete with a ceremonial roundhouse has been reconstructed in the middle of the small valley.
The Museum has been designed to reflect the architecture of the traditional roundhouse. Exhibited in this two-story museum are outstanding examples of the technology and crafts of the Miwok and other Sierra Nevada native American groups.
As a regional Indian museum, the collection at Chaw’se includes Northern, Central and Southern Miwok, Maidu, Konkow, Monache, Nisenan, Tubatulabal, Washo, and Foothill Yokuts. Examples of basketry, feather regalia, jewelry, arrow points, and other tools are on display.
Indian Grinding Rock SHP | Chaw’se Association (chawse.org)
Roaring Camp
Roaring Camp was once a camp for Forty Niners, but since it was so inaccessible, most of the gold still remains. Visitors can see our operating gold mine and can mine their own gold by panning, sluicing, metal detecting, and dry washing.
Panning For Gold California | Roaring Camp Gold
Preston Castle
Preston Castle, constructed in 1890, was built to house one of the best-known reform schools for boys in the US. It opened in June 1894 and operated until 1960. The building remained vacant and in disrepair until September 2001 when The Preston Castle Foundation received a fifty-year lease for the property. The Preston Castle Foundation’s mission is to preserve, rehabilitate and utilize the historic Preston Castle site as well as preserving the history of the school, its staff and boys.
Explore the Haunted History of Preston Castle in Ione, CA
Kennedy Mine
The Kennedy Mine, famous for being one of the deepest gold mines in the world (at 5912 feet), demonstrates how gold changed an entire way of life in California.One of the tallest head frames in existence today can be seen at the Kennedy Mine. The mine also had one of the largest stamp mills in the Mother Lode, moving tailings by means of huge wooden wheels, some of which are still standing. The history of the Kennedy Mine is traced to January 4, 1860.
Kennedy Gold Mine – Historic Gold Mine Surface Tours – Home Page
Knight Foundry
The Knight Foundry is one of the best preserved 19th-century industrial-age workplaces in the United States. It was in continuous operation in Sutter Creek, California for 123 years, from its founding in 1873 until 1996, at which time it was designated one of the country’s eleven most endangered historic sites by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Today few other sites are in a comparable state of preservation. Nearly a quarter century since its closing, Knight Foundry remains virtually intact.
Knight Foundry never significantly modernized; the original machinery is still powered by patented Knight Water Motors via a system of line shafts and belt drives. In addition to a full complement of tools and machinery, no other site preserves an unbroken line of nearly extinct foundry skills down to the present.
Sutter Creek Knight Foundry Water-Powered Foundry and Machine Shop Historic Site
Black Chasm Cavern
While Black Chasm Cavern was likely known about by the local Miwok people who existed in this area long before the gold rush, the first documented exploration occurred in 1854 when a group of explorers braved the unknown to discover the phenomenal beauty that exists below the surface including a bright blue lake and millions of sparkling crystals that seemed to twist from the cavern walls in every direction, we now know these unusual formations as ‘helictites.
In addition to the amazing Black Chasm Cavern, guests may be able to visit the Miners Trail located on the property. This area is not only naturally beautiful but also historically significant. During the Gold Rush, Hydraulic mining was used extensively in the Volcano area.
ABOUT — Gold Country Adventures (cavetouring.com)
*A generous thank you to the above mentioned historical sites for use of their web content and images.
A big thank you to Nicole Shebl for providing this insightful information to share with you. Looking forward to knowing that you used this information and it was helpful.
