Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills eight miles east of Jackson. 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.

Location/Directions
The park is northeast of Stockton in the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Take State Highway 88 East through Jackson to the town of Pine Grove.  Take a left turn on the Pine-Grove-Volcano Road, and about a mile and a half later you will enter the Park. The SECOND turnoff is the main entrance (the first is to the small campground).

Seasons/Climate/Recommended clothing
The Sierra foothills experience warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Many summer days exceed ninety degrees. Snow falls occasionally during the winter in the Chaw’se area, but most precipitation takes the form of rain.

Facilities - Activities
The Chaw'se Regional Indian Museum
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.

Big Time Events
Several times a year ceremonies are held in the hun'ge (roundhouse) by local Native Americans. Indian families gather at the park on the weekend following the fourth Friday in September for the annual acorn gathering season ceremonies. 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.

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. School Groups are limited to 40 students and 10 adults per tour.

Environmental Living/Group Camping
Camping in the U’macha’tam’ma’ 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, but your time here will be unforgettable.

Reservations can be made up to six months in advance by phone or mail.  Application forms are available by contacting the park by phone or by clicking the link on this page.  Please contact the park for further information.

The consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in all areas of the park except the 23 developed family campsites at all times.

Camping
The parks has 23 campsites with paved parking (trailers and motor homes up to 27 feet), tables, food lockers, fire rings, piped water, restrooms with showers and flush toilets.  Wood gathering is not allowed but firewood may be brought in or purchased at the park. Campsites are available on a first-come, first served basis. The park is open for camping all year but is subject to closure during Special Events or times of heavy snowfall.

Day Use
The day use area of the park contains the 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. The consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in all areas of the park except the 23 developed family campsites at all times.

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.

Wildlife
The park is small, but offers many opportunities to observe wildlife. The mixture of oak woodlands and mixed pine forest provides a wide variety of habitats, just as it did in previous centuries when the Miwok lived here in the old way.

Birdlife varies depending on the season, but many species are seen year round, including turkey vultures, scrub and Steller’s jays, California quail, acorn and hairy woodpeckers, northern flickers, hermit thrushes, wild turkeys (non-native), and California thrashers. In summer, the bright colors of the western tanager, northern oriole, calliope and Anna’s hummingbirds can be seen in the woods around the meadow. A bird list is available at the museum.

Animal life in and around the park includes deer, fox, gray and California ground squirrels, black-tailed jackrabbits, bobcats, bats, and occasionally a mountain lion or black bear. The legendary coyote – the trickster of Miwok legend – can be heard singing on quiet summer nights.