Secret Panamint Tunnel

Over twenty-five years ago, I found this little mining tunnel high in the Panamint Mountains,  west of Death Valley. This adit is unique because it is filled with water and flowstone. It was beautiful inside.

Tunnels like this in mines are rare, especially in the desert. Hopefully, the flowstone will continue to grow and create new formations. Not too many folks know about this hidden and certainly seldom visited spot.

These old photos are scanned-in and dusty, so the quality isn’t that great.

Secret Panamint Tunnel

15 photos

Close shot of a soda straw.

Lots of soda straws on the ceiling.

You can just barely see a rail buried in flowstone.

Black organic and rust stain mix with white flowstone.

Heavy flowstone wall. Note the faint blue color on the right.

The end of one drift.

An early photo of me...

Lots of flowstone deposits. This mine is old, but not that old. Flowstone must be building relatively fast.

Some soda straws start to build.

Rimstone pool.

Rust makes the wall look like it is bleeding.

More rust flowstone.

Nice rusty ribbon of flowstone.

Black organics.

An old box now covered in flowstone at the end of another drift.