Not too long ago (in the late summer of 2015, to be exact), we drove to this little abandoned mining camp in the backcountry of Nevada. As we got closer, we discovered the old road was completely overgrown and lost in the willows. So we got out of our trucks and hiked in. I was interested to see if anything remained of the old mill that once served the mine.
We discovered a cabin as we hiked up the hill towards the mine. It looked in decent shape, but we were surprised to find it fully furnished, as if the caretaker had just walked away. Everything here was run off of solar power, and he even had satellite TV!
Just above the cabin are some scattered pieces of mining equipment. We found the remains of a jaw crusher and an ore bin. These were of more modern origin and indicate someone had reworked the mine on a small scale not too long ago. We continued higher up to the mine itself and the older mill site.
Silver was first discovered here by Mexicans around 1870. The early days were prosperous. The mine produced over $165,000 in silver from 1875 to 1889. (That’s an impressive figure for the time.) So much activity was going on here that a stagecoach ran daily to the little mine camp. But, as these things often go, the rich ore played out, and the mine fell silent. Reports show that the mine was active again in the early 1920s when a ten-stamp mill and flotation plant were constructed. It was briefly active again in the 1940s when the tunnels were lengthened in a failed pursuit to find more ore along the once-rich mineral vein.
Don’t get too excited about exploring the mine these days; the lower adit is flooded, and the upper one caved in.
The site has been abandoned for a while, but there is talk about reopening the mine.
No directions to this site.
