On the first floor, visitors can tour the restored historic offices of the Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Governor of California, as well as two rotating exhibit rooms.

From 1883 to 2020, the center of the rotunda housed the marble statue Columbus' Last Appeal to Queen Isabella, sculpted by Larkin Mead and given to California by banker and philanthropist Darius Ogden Mills.

A June 2020 joint statement by California Senate Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, and Assembly Rules Committee chair Ken Cooley said that the removal of the statue was based on “the deadly impact his arrival in this hemisphere had on indigenous populations.

There are 40 acres (16 ha) of gardens in the surrounding Capitol Park, including trees and shrubs from around the world.

The grounds also feature approximately 155 memorials to significant events and people involving California, and other points-of-interest.