[1] The museum houses a collection that was created in 1880, with the establishment of the California State Mining Bureau.

Henry G. Hanks was the first California State Mineralogist and was tasked with managing the collection.

The international collection holds over 13,000 minerals, rocks, gems, fossils, and historic artifacts.

Exhibits include the crystalline gold Fricot Nugget, weighing 201 troy ounces (6.25 kg), the largest found during the California Gold Rush; a working scale model of a stamp mill over 100 years old, demonstrating the process of extracting gold from quartz rock; and a replica hard rock mine tunnel that allows visitors to better understand California's hard rock mines.

The California Mining and Mineral Museum was one of the 48 California state parks proposed for closure in January 2008 during the Arnold Schwarzenegger Administration as part of a deficit reduction program.