INDIAN GRINDING ROCK STATE HISTORIC PARK

Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park (IGR) is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills 12 miles east of Jackson, CA. 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 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.

Facilities - Activities

The Chaw'se Regional Indian Museum
Furs and tools used by the Miwok.
The museum features a variety of exhibits and an outstanding collection of Sierra Nevada Indian artifacts. 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, arrowpoints, and other tools are on display.

Additionally, we offer camping on the southside of the park with our 22 site campground. Please visit the camping page for more information.

Big Time Events

Several times a year ceremonies are held in the hun'ge (roundhouse) by local Native Americans. One of those eceremonies Big Time, brings together Indian families on the weekend following the fourth Friday in September for the annual acorn gathering. Dancing, hand games, singing and storytelling are traditional at this event. Spectators are welcome, but there is no fixed schedule of events. Native American crafts and foods are available. During this event please ask for permission before taking photographs of Native Americans.

School Group Tours

School group tours are conducted from March 1st through approximately the middle of June and also September 1st through approximately the middle of November. Reservations for School Group Tours must be made in advance. Please call the park to inquire about available dates and times as well as applicable fees.

Environmental Living/Group Camping

Camping in the Umachatamma sites (bark houses to the north) is a unique experience. Here you can "get away from it all" and get back in touch with the natural world while simultaneously learning something about Miwok life.

Seven bark houses, each one suitable for up to six people, have been constructed in a secluded area of the park. They can be reserved for a group of up to 44 people. The camping is primitive therefore you must haul water, supplies and equipment 200 yards, or more, from the parking area however, your time here will be unforgettable as you experience life in a bark house.

Reservations can be made up to six months in advance by phone or mail. Applications are available by contacting the park or by clicking the link on the right side of this page.

Day Use

The day use area of the park contains a reconstructed Miwok village, which includes the Grinding Rock itself, bark houses, acorn granaries, a game field and the Ceremonial Round House. A picnic area with a shade ramada near the grinding rock can accommodate large groups (up to 150 persons). Reservations for the area are not accepted. There is also a small picnic area next to the museum. Please do not use campsites for picnicking.

Trails

There are two developed trails within the park. The North Trail, a one-mile round-trip, starts near the museum. It traverses the ridge surrounding the meadow, passes by the old farm site, crosses the creek and continues to the reconstructed Miwok village site before returning to the museum by way of the roundhouse and grinding rock.

The half-mile long South Trail is a self guided nature trail and starts near the roundhouse. The trail guide describes the ethnobotany of the area and identifies some of the plants that were used by the Miwok. A trail guide is available for 50 cents at the start of the South Trail near the round house deposit money into the brown metal box with the guides..