Black Miners Bar — Attraction in Folsom

There lots and of pros and cons to this location. Most important one to me is accessibility. CONS: NO handicap parking available at the ramp (that I saw). NO permanent parking by the ramp. 🅿️ You have your drop your board/kayak and gear/kids/family at the water. Then drive up a hill, park, then hurry back to your gear/kids/family. OR, Park on top of the hill, at the big parking lot. Then, carry your gear/kids etc down the big hill. Which means, you will have to do the same, after you are done being on the water, and most likely, exhausted. There are a LOT of inpatient people around. Some are friendly and nice, but there are a few that weren’t very nice at all. Large number of drinkers, weed smokers, loud music and people partying. Be cautious when leaving! Lots of trash scattered around, as well as floating when you get in the lake. As well as on the shoreline. Leeches on still water, like the “Jungle”. Though small, it’s something to be mindful of.

PROS: Amazing site seeing area!! Some of the places are the “Jungle”. Which is to the right of the launch ramp, and directly across the lake. ➡️ Here you can see TONS of wildlife. Paddle slow and listen to nature. It’s also a nice refuge on a windy day. There are 🦫, snakes🐍 , eagles 🦅, lots of fish 🐠, geese🪿, swans 🦢, turtles🐢, birds🐦, and so much more!! 🛑PLEASE BE MINDFUL of the wildlife!🛑 Further down on the same side as the boat ramp, you will find a nuce, sandy beach area. With a playground, and a life guard station, with life vests you can borrow. It also seemed like they rent kayaks and paddle boards here. They may also have a snack shack. But I am not 100% certain. To the left of the launch ramp, you will find a bridge, lots of big rocks, some people where jumping off of, but there are posted signs not to do so. 🤷🏼‍♀️ There is another brigde, and the lake starts to narrow, into a canyon looking area. The current is strong here, and many have personal challenges to reach the Folsom prison wire. This is considered a great achievement in the “paddlers community”.

🛑WEAR a life vest! The water is very cold. And there is a current running through the lake. I had to help a lady that fell in off her paddle boards and she didn’t have a vest on her. I threw mine to her and helped her back onto her board. She was very tired of swimming. Could have been tragic!

Another huge PRO. There are a couple of gentlemen that dive the lake, recovering lost items. They do this for free and are amazing!

Lastly, please LEAVE NO TRACE! Pack out everything you take with you. Let’s keep this...

Very interesting historical exhibite explains the sites multi cultural legacy. This California State Park has had lots of improvements in the last few years (2020-23). The beach area has been redone with big covered picnic tables, improved stairs and ramp access, really nice bathrooms that are well maintained, expanded and overflow parking, and excellent information about the role of Black, Chinese, and Indigenous communities that lived and worked here. The Black Miners who helped launch the Gold Rush were here before the town of Folsom, which first emerged as a flourishing California community around their productive commerce. Although it is not articulated in the displays, we can see that the mining activities were racially and ethnically integrated. It also appears in the historic photographs from the late 1840s and early 1850s that Black and European miners shared tasks as co-equals, paired in teams. The photos of Europeans and Chinese miners show an apparently different sociological pattern with separate tasks within an overall activity, for example, with the Chinese workers shoveling and the European workers culling...

Beautiful place to paddleboard in the early mornings. Watching the sunrise here has become such a peaceful routine. There are islands to paddle around with geese, ducks, swans, turtles and fish. There are also a few territorial beavers around so if you get close enough to their dens they will swim out and slap the water as a warning not to get close.

Not busy on weekdays and very busy after 10am on weekends. There is access to bathrooms, no sinks to wash hands though. $10 parking fee, there is a qr code that can be scanned at the entrance to pay online if...