WHAT TO EXPECT
This slightly under 5 mile loop hike is in the Mississippi Bar section of the American River Parkway. Although the trail is fairly flat, there are some ups and downs, and some short rocky sections.
There is poison oak along some parts of the trail. The trail is a mix of sun and shade. There are no restrooms at the trailhead. Restrooms along the trail are behind trees. There are restrooms at our lunch spot in Phoenix Park.
DIRECTIONS TO THE TRAILHEAD AND MEETING TIME
At the intersection of Hazel Ave. and Sunset Blvd., follow Sunset Blvd. east, (past Phoenix Park), to where the road goes down a hill and makes a 90 degree left turn at a stop sign and becomes Main Ave. At the stop sign bear right and park in the small parking area in front of you. Parking is free. (See map at bottom of this email.)
We will start our hike at 930A. You should be on your way home by 100P.
This hike is similar to one taken here two years ago except the route has been modified due to trail flooding and washouts. No part of the trail is on the bike path. The trail starts at the small parking area at the corner of Sunset Ave. and Main St., about .8 miles east of the Hazel Ave. and the Sunset Ave. intersection, at the end of Sunset Ave. The parking area is about a half mile past Phoenix Park. Parking is free.
We will leave our lunches in our cars, perhaps in cooler. After the hike we will caravan about a half mile to Phoenix Park, where there are restrooms and picnic tables for our picnic brunch.
Dogs are permitted, but must be on a leash - park regulation.
For the benefit of the new 49er members, a little bit of the area history is shown below.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
The Mississippi Bar area is extensively covered with dredge tailings, At 7 X 10 miles, it is part of one of the largest dredging fields in California.
The area was originally settled in 1849 and first known as Negro Bar. The present town of Folsom was laid out in 1855 by T. D. Judah for the Sacramento Valley Railroad and named for Captain J. L. Folsom, quartermaster of Stevenson's Regiment.The region around Folsom was placer-mined during the gold rush, with some minor lode mining. Numerous Chinese worked the region from the 1860s through the 1890s. A primitive grab-dredger was active at Natoma in 1894. Bucket-line dredging began at Folsom in 1898 and soon became a major industry.
The Natomas Company, which became the major operator, was founded when it merged with other operators in the early 1900s. The company designed and built its own dredges at extensive shops in the town of Natoma. In 1916 there were 11 active dredges. From 1927 to 1952, several other operators joined Natomas in dredging the district.
Dredging operations were curtailed during World War II but were resumed on a major scale shortly afterward. However, increasing costs, the depletion of dredging ground, and changing land values caused the dredging operations to be gradually curtailed. By 1960 there was only a single active dredge, and this was shut down in February 1962.
Bucket-line dredging made the mining of buried placer gold deposits yielding as little as five cents per cubic yard profitable, and by the end of 1941, dredges had recovered over 18 million ounces of gold valued at one-half billion - 1941 dollars.
Bucket Line Dredge
Besides producing gold, the area also produced some silver and platinum.
Types of mine operations
Gold mining operations may be carried out by either placer mining or lode mining. Lode mining is also called hard rock mining.
Placer mining is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit, also called open-cast mining, or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment.
Lode mining relates to mineral deposits in solid rock.