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Golden State Heritage Site, Golden, OR

Photo: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sightseeing

Golden State Heritage Site

Remains of a 19th-century mining town near Medford, now a ghost town managed by Oregon State Parks.

Golden, OR

About Golden State Heritage Site

Golden was once a mining settlement of roughly 100 residents that also supported workers on nearby farms and remote claims. Its mining camp of the 1850s gave way to a town formed around 1890. The community stood out for having no saloons in its center, two active churches, and a large orchard planted by its founding families. Visitors today can walk among the surviving structures on hillside ground above the valley. Four buildings remain: a church, a former home, a shed, and a structure that once held a post office and store. The whole property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

  • #ghost town
  • #mining history
  • #National Register of Historic Places
  • #Oregon State Parks
  • #Josephine County

What's around here?

The closest stops to Golden State Heritage Site, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing

    Wolf Creek Inn

    No admission fee

    Restored 1883 stagecoach-era inn and State Heritage Site in southern Oregon, near I-5.

    3.3 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Morrison's Rogue Wilderness Lodge

    $50+

    Riverside lodge and outfitter running guided rafting and fly-fishing trips on the Wild and Scenic Rogue River.

    15 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Tours
    Outdoor Adventure

    Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures

    $50+

    Guided rafting, fishing and lodge-to-lodge trips on the Rogue River, with nights in remote riverside lodges.

    15 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours

  • Attractions
    Local Gem

    The Glass Forge Gallery & Studio

    Under $25

    Working glassblowing studio and gallery in Grants Pass, Oregon, with viewing and hands-on tours.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    17 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Sightseeing
    Local Gem

    Grants Pass

    No admission fee

    Official visitor site for Grants Pass, Oregon, covering outdoor adventure, dining and lodging on the Rogue River.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    18 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    Local Gem

    Eagle Point

    No admission fee

    Small Southern Oregon city known as the Gateway to the Lakes, with a historic mill and covered bridge nearby.

    31 mi awayMore like this

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