It’s been awhile since I hiked up to Slate Bar, but a warmish day in January (I actually wore shorts) seemed like the perfect time to go back. I was able to get off the paved bike trail and away from the seemingly endless stream of walkers and cyclists, at least for a little while.

“This bar was located just below the present site of the Branch State Prison [now Folsom State Prison], on the opposite side of the river. This was never a large camp; the mining being of the variety called “crevice mining,” did not offer the inducement that other bars did” — from History of Sacramento County, California, With Illustrations; Thompson and West, 1880

Mystery hole in the rocks, south bank

Folsom Crossing (left) and Folsom Prison (right)