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Lost Burro Mine

Bourke Lee wrote in the 1930s: "There is a Lost Burro Mine on almost every mountain." Prospectors spent so much time chasing their wandering burros through the desert hills that the animals became their best prospecting partners. The Lost Burro in the Cottonwood Mountains of northern Death Valley

Braden Cabin and the Berman Murders

Spend enough time around the warm springs in Saline Valley and someone will eventually mention "the Murder Cabin." The name has stuck for decades, carried by rumor and retold with increasing inaccuracy. The cabin in question once belonged to Roy "Red" Braden, a pistol-packing cinnabar prospector

Cyty's Mill

Just north of the well-known Keane Wonder Mine site lies Cyty's Mill, a smaller, seldom-visited mill site and cabin. A short hike along the base of the Funeral Mountains will lead you past scenic Keane Wonder Springs to John Cyty's 1910 cabin and mill, which processed

Cliffs of Crosses Petroglyphs

Most East Mojave rock art sites have a mix of abstract designs, the occasional bighorn sheep, maybe a few human figures. This canyon has those too, but what sets it apart is the number of enclosed crosses pecked into the basalt cliffs. I didn't name it, but whoever

Tungsten Mine (Okanogan)

Despite having plenty written about it, the Tungsten Mine is surprisingly hard to find good information on. There are countless disagreeing dates and details of the operation. Some individual reports even contradict themselves on the history of the mine. At various times the mine was known as the: Tungsten Mine,

January 2026 News

So, I changed my mind about having a Patron tier and exclusive newsletter. I discovered it wasn't going to work for a couple of reasons. So, I eliminated them. Those of you who signed up (and more than a few did) got moved back to the normal paid

Skelton Mill

Hidden in a dense forest about a mile above Lake Mary (in the Mammoth Lakes area) lies a mysterious mill site dating back to the late 1890s. Although the passing years have not been kind to the mill, old foundations and a few unique mill artifacts remain today. The site

Hondo Wash Pictographs

The Hondo Wash pictographs sit where granite boulders narrow the canyon to a passage. Rock art on both sides of the wash, exactly the kind of spot where people would pause as they moved through. The site features both petroglyphs and painted images in red and black. What's

December 2025 News

The site crossed 500 posts this year. I'm not sure exactly when, somewhere between updating Idaho mining histories and rebuilding the map page for the third time. I'm pretty happy with the way the map turned out. It finally has clickable points that go to trips.

Grass Canyon Petroglyphs

Native Americans passed through Grass Canyon thousands of years ago and left their marks on the basalt. I am not sure why they picked these rocks, though. There are plenty of other surfaces around that don't have anything on them. But this spot where a basalt butte meets

Old Sam Mine (Camas)

Parson's Ranch Petroglyphs

Mahan Mine (Edwardsburg, ID)

Cary's Castle North Petroglyphs

In 2016, on an adventure north of Cary's Castle (one of many), I stumbled upon these petroglyphs hidden among the granite boulders of the Eagle Mountains. The abstract designs appear to be Desert Archaic in style, likely created by indigenous peoples who traveled these washes for thousands of