Fodor's Expert Review North Star Mining Museum
Grass Valley
Museum/Gallery
Inside a former powerhouse, the museum displays a 32-foot-high Pelton Water Wheel said to be the largest ever built. The wheel, used to power mining operations, was a forerunner of modern turbines that generate hydroelectricity. Other exhibits, some geared to children, document life in the mines and the environmental effects mining had on the area. You can picnic nearby.
