My husband and I took our grandaughter there who loved it.. Loved watching the water run over the Dam. Was at the age of asking "Why" and we loved to answer her the best we could..
Okay, the dam is at Folsom Lake and the historic powerhouse (the only one you can visit) is about three miles away in Folsom. Both are very cool. At the dam, there is a visitors center with lots of cool exhibits on the watershed that drains into Folsom Lake. You can't go to the dam or drive over it any more (not since 9-11 and concerns about terrorism). The powerhouse is an historic park and you can tour inside the 1890s building itself. Very cool. The State of California just completed a multi-million dollar visitors center too, so that is well worth a visit. great spot and very scenic along the American River and Lake Natoma in historic Folsom.
Don't know if the tour inside the dam is still available, but it is an amazing place. The American River Canyon is a beautiful site. This serene place is just a short distance from Folsom Prison.
As it has been so long without rain in Folsom, the water was really down in the lake. We drove across the dam and did not see very much.
Interesting to see the history of the powerhouse and the old electrical system that was in place and all that it did. It's amazing. If you have time, take in the Folsom History Museum too.
The kids were skeptical as we walked the 2 blocks from Lake Natoma Inn, but they really enjoyed looking around for quite some time. It's free, and the volunteer was very informative. There were plenty of valves to turn and historic photos to see. All for free (donations accepted, of course).
The Powerhouse is a nice place to walk around and look at pictures of time gone by you can walk around have a picinic and walk down by the water .The dam itself you can only drive by it though since 9-11 for security reasons.Its still an awesome site.They are currently working on the dam and you can see the "huge mungas" craines moving rock,the kids would love to watch
The Folsom Dam tour is EXCELLENT, very interesting! The Powerhouse tour is short, fairly boring. If you are pressed for time, DEFINITELY book the Dam tour. I'd only visit the Powerhouse if you have some time to kill. The Powerhouse tour is short, so that helps! :)
Everything runs great--good operations n maintenance. I operated the water plant at Folsom Prison and was familiarwith their O&M and quality of their service to fellow departmentsand companies to us and to the people in the State.
See it at least once. It holds back the water that used to flood Sacramento every winter.