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Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
Rating Details »
Categories: Campgrounds, Museums, Landmarks & Historical Buildings [Edit]
14881 Pine Grove Volcano RdPine Grove, CA 95665
(209) 296-7488
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
6 reviews for Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
I wanted to camp here and couldn't get through. Come to find out the voicemail greeting confirms they are aware of phone trouble. I then harassed them by fax (I googled it), but still no action. Five days later I received a call from a nice lady, but 'me-walked' it already. O.K., that was lame. We camped elsewhere (see my Pine Grove camping experience---oh boy). We made this a day trip and explored the soil that the MiWok once inhabited. First we checked out the IGR campsites we gave up for the trailer park at Pine Grove. About half of the 23 shaded campsites were available. There was potable water (but icky to drink), and there are showers and restrooms. $20 per night with free admission to the park, trails, and museum. Super Deal!
What was amazing is we pretty much had the place all to ourselves. First we checked out the facts at the museum and talked story with the curator lady while in my peripheral a quiet and decorated 70-somethin' year-old volunteer smiled and attentively awaited any question one may wish to ask. I say decorated because I'm pretty sure he was adorned with a scout patch or two, medals---or maybe a shiny pin,a hat, and plaid pants? He was so cute and I know a few more shifts he will be busting out with knowledge. Anyway, we played with the tools, interacted with the exhibits, played with the mortar and pestal for grinding acorns--which by the way was really interesting. We even tested our new knowledge with the quiz board that lights up. After we tired of the facts, aced the quiz, and left a donation, we continued on to the North Trail (with no map), looped around maybe twice, found our way to the South Trail, drank the icky water, crossed a couple of small bridges, pointed out the wild flowers and wormwood we learned about, and then found the teepees. Three little boys were having a blast with them. How lucky were they to camp out here in this little world and play among the teepees and huge oak trees? I can't wait until my grandson gets old enough to enjoy this place.
The grinding rocks were interesting, but didn't see any petroglyphs. I did see very meticulous and abstract wood carvings near the picnic area, but my husband pointed out that they were the work of "termites" not natives. Anyway, we had a nice private picnic lunch and I know, I know, the signs said no alcoholic beverages, but we just had to break bread with a glass of wine. Plus other people broke the rules---the sign said no dogs on trail, yet there were droppings and we saw a couple with a dog. Also, we visited the museum before we had the wine so it's not like we would have annoyed anyone. But the dog poop---come on!
We had been exploring the historic little town of Volcano for much of the morning then stopped to have sandwiches at Daffodil Hill. We were having such a nice time that we didn't arrive at the Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park until mid-afternoon.
It had been many years since I last visited this park, and I can sadly admit that I am now 0 for 2 in visiting the Chaw'se Regional Indian Museum. The museum closes at 3:00 PM on weekdays, and I just happened to miss that important fact in my trip planning. My friend had never been here before. So as it was my friend and I spent a couple of hours here anyway walking the North Trail and exploring the reconstructed Miwok village and the different grinding rocks.
There are two nature trails within this park, and both feature much to learn about the region, its history, the nearby Indian tribes, the plants and the fauna. The North Trail is an easy one mile loop that takes visitors past all of the key exhibits within the park while the South Trail is a half mile loop which explores more plant life and gives visitors a glimpse of the campsite area. There are printed trail guides available at the trailheads to help you examine and understand what you are seeing.
I've always enjoyed seeing the Miwok village here which features the cone shaped bark houses, a ceremonial Roundhouse and a game field. There is a wooden platform built above the grinding rocks and petroglyph area to protect it from harmful visitors. The picnic area is well kept with picnic tables and grill pits available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
I'll keep my review short as I plan to return in time to actually go inside the museum. Also, I've only posted a handful of photos as the photos posted by previous reviewers seem more useful.
Since the Mr. and I were at Daffodil Hill, we decided to check this place out. We had absolutely no idea what to expect, we just thought we were going to look at some grinding rock and that was it. I didn't think we were going to stay as long as we did.
You have the choice of either camping here or making it a day trip. If you're camping here, go to the second IGRSHP sign for the camp grounds. The first sign is for day trippers like myself. As soon as you park the car, be sure to check out the little museum. Inside were woven baskets, ceremonial costumes, replicas of how their habitats looked, and every day tools. There were also books and other memorabilia to take home.
After checking out the museum, we checked out the bedrock mortar and the petroglyphs. It has an observation deck so you can be right in the middle of the grinding stone. Behind that are what look like three tepees but they're made of wood. You can go inside them but be on the lookout for the cute little gecko-like lizards, they're everywhere but harmless. Across that is the gaming area, if you come here at the right time they actually have ceremonies and celebrations where everyone is invited.
We walked further down the path and stopped where the ceremonial roundhouse is. WOW! How the hell did they build this? It was pretty crazy in an architectural sense, especially when you consider they lacked the technology we have today. The inside of it had a small fire going so smoke could come out of the hole at the very top.
Near the roundhouse is a shaded picnic area which accommodates 150 people . Be sure to bring food with you as you are in the middle of no where. The bathrooms are located on the ground floor of the museum.
At the end of the path is the Miwok Plant Trail/South Nature Trail. Be sure to take a booklet with you, located inside the brown metal box. You will learn so much more this way, rather than just going up some path you know nothing about. The booklet is numbered one through fourteen, these correspond with the 14 different posts along the trail. It's a relatively easy trail to walk, not very steep at all and easy for the kids. There is also a north trail that I didn't even know about, I believe it goes behind the museum.
If you plan on camping here, they have 23 camp sites with paved parking. There are even food lockers, piped water, and restrooms. I would love to come back here again when I have kids so we can camp. There were a lot of children around the park and they all looked like they were having a really great time.
So we drive up, it's a self register park. Grab the envelope, stuff $6 in it, fill out the BS on the front and put the parking permit on the dash. Then we pull into the parking lot. Soaring trees and the sounds of nature surround us. I'm immediately transported to a simpler time, free of all the annoyances of modern life.
We entered the "The Chaw'se Regional Indian Museum" which is designed to resemble a traditional roundhouse. The displays of baskets, Native American tools, and various other items were beautiful. The museum itself is a beautiful, if simple piece of architecture. The nice women working in the Museum made sure we knew all about the park, the museum, where to find the grinding rocks, and where the hiking trails were. I was in a "non-social" mood but they kept working on me anyway =) gotta love persistence. It certainly improved my mood.
We went out the back door of the museum and were struck by the beauty of the area again. From the museum exit we saw amazing meadows, gorgeous trees, and great wood "houses" I would call them tepees myself.
The first, and largest grinding rock is pretty close to the museum. It was OK, a rock with a bunch of holes in it from being used to grind acorns into meal. It looked like perhaps the site had water in it at one point with the way the rocks were worn, and the fact that there weren't holes on certain parts of the rock.
Next we headed for the South Nature Trail. It is a 1/2 mile loop designed to be(here's where I rip off their website a little)
" a self-guided interpretive path keyed to a park pamphlet. As you tour meadowland, oak woods, plus stands of sugar pine and ponderosa pine, you'll learn how the Miwok collected and used the bountiful local vegetation."
There was a cute little stream along the way, the hiking was pretty easy only a few little hills and it smelled AMAZING. The vegetation was so fragrant and wonderful I was wondering how to get that smell into my home.
We didn't camp there but the trail went along the edge of the campgrounds and several people were there. It looked like a decent camp site.
I went stressed & semi-grumpy, I left in a state of bliss like I had just received a 2 hour massage. I want to go again SOON!
When my friend told me about this park I didn't imagine I'd have liked it as much as I did. The Miwok village is really neat and it was uber cool that we were allowed to walk into the Roundhouse, a larger structure where the old Indian tribes would conduct their tribal celebrations and gatherings. The actual grinding rocks were just round holes carved into the rock that the tribes used to grind nuts and grains into flour. I learned quite a bit at this park. The hike was nice too, and I think the camp sites are available first come, first serve; although, there are other camping accommodations that you can reserve in advance also.
I really like this place,even it is not to much where to hike. It is beautiful and quite there. It brings you to this part of the culture very well.
