Family Friendly
Sutter Creek and the surrounding area has some great alternatives for family vacations:
- Sutter Gold Mine Tours
Sutter Gold Mine, open daily, provides at a moderate charge, one-hour guided tours into this authentic, modern gold mine. Learn about mining techniques and Mother Lode geology. Visit the Gold Store, theater and try panning and gemstone mining. - Black Chasm Cavern
Black Chasm, made a Nat’l Natural Landmark in 1976, is an extraordinarily beautiful cave open daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Guided walking tours showcase a variety of calcite formations including rare helictite crystals. 866-762-2837 - Calaveras Big Tree State Park
Calaveras became a State Park in 1931 to preserve the North Grove of giant sequoias. This grove includes the “Discovery Tree”, the first Sierra redwood noted by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852. This area has been a major tourist attraction ever since, and is considered the longest continuously operated tourist facility in California. - Chaw’se Indian Grinding Rock State Park
Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills eight miles east of Sutter Creek. The park nestles in a little valley 2,400 feet above sea level with open meadows and large valley oaks that once provided the native Americans of this area with an ample supply of acorns. The 135-acre park was created in 1968 and preserves a great outcropping of marbleized limestone with some 1,185 mortar holes — the largest collection of bedrock mortars in North America. - Historic Kennedy Gold Mine Surface Tours
Take a fascinating tour of one of the most famous mines of the Mother Lode, the historic Kennedy Gold Mine! - Knight Foundry
This is one of the earliest US foundry-machine shops remaining in operation and one fo the few water-powered. It was founded by Samuel N. Knight (1838-1913) to manufacture machinery for the gold mines of the Mother Lode region. Knight was one of several inventors experimenting with impulse turbines to exploit the area’s abundant high-head water power for driving hoists, ore stamps, and other mining machinery. He patented an efficient water wheel that came to dominate the field prior to the introduction of the Pelton turbine in the mid-1880s. Knight turbines drive some of the machinery of the works. Knight Foundry is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a California Historical Landmark. - Monteverde Store Museum
J. Monteverde General Store Museum 3 Randolph Street Sutter Creek, CA 95685 Admission: Free Take a step back in time at the Monteverde General Store Museum and experience a little slice of “frontier life.” John Monteverde and members of his family ran the emporium from 1898 to 1971 and you can see the authentic hardware, groceries, clothing, pharmaceuticals, candy, and miner supplies such as boots, flashlights, and tools that the Monteverde’s sold to Sutter Creek locals. Walk into a Time Capsule John Monteverde and his son John opened their general store in August 1898 and it changed little from its early days until Rose Monteverde, the youngest of seven children, put a hand written sign in the window on 27 October 1971 stating, “This store will be closed for a few days.” Rose never returned to the store and bequeathed it to the town of Sutter Creek in 1978, on the condition that it be converted to a museum or a library. As an homage to the frontier spirit of the Sutter Creek community, town members decided to preserve the store almost exactly as Rose Monteverde had left it. The J. Monteverde General Store Museum is typical of old country stores at the turn of the century. Over its counters and from its shed – now the home to the Sutter Creek Visitor’s Center and Amador Arts Council – the Monteverde family offered for sale all manner and description of merchandise and came to serve as a meeting place for miners, housewives and the town children. What Waits in Store for You · Original grocery items still extant in their original packaging and boxes, when possible. · Authentic miners supplies, including hob nail boots, miner hats, tools, and lunch boxes. · All the existing original ledgers, written in spidery script, attesting to the good and bad times that befell the citizenry. · A variety of 19th and early 20th century book titles in the “reading library” section. · Shelves full of hose and long underwear sold to gentlemen as well as shoes, hose, bolts of materials, and patterns for the ladies. Also on display is a box of vintage Chux disposable diapers. · And Much, Much More! - Kirkwood Ski Area
Kirkwood Ski Area approximately 55 miles East of Sutter Creek on Highway 88. Best ski area in Amador County. - Amador County Recreation Agency Picnic Area on the Creek
Picnic area four miles out of Sutter Creek on Church Street – Suter Creek-Volcano Road. Area has ample picnic Picnic Area ample, Gold Panning, Place for Kids to Play. Four miles up Volcano road.
