Certainly one of my all time favorites. The giant stamp mill sits right next to a well maintained gravel road only a short distance from the highway. Virtually no vandalism. The bunk house and other ruins lie only yards away. There was a modern miniature head-frame with ore cart rails and an adit just west of the mill. There are a couple of nice plaques explaining not only the history but also the effort to stabilize the mill.
precarious 4×4 shelf road
We also took a very narrow and precarious 4×4 shelf road up to the lower adit and double ore bins. We were able to drive right up and shine our headlights into the old shaft.
The mill is right off the road…
The Historical Marker across the road from the mill says it operated from 1903 to 1939 under several different owners. The ore was brought from the mines up on the mountain down to the 10 stamp mill via 3000′ tram. It is unclear how much gold was recovered here. The quartz vein proved elusive to follow and the mine was abandoned. The marker on this map shows the location of the double ore bins. The mill is at 38.5139528, -119.5317472, which is slightly NE of the mine and clearly visible from satellite imagery. The mill is right off the road on the north side as you head in. There are also several structures in the area clearly visible from satellite maps. Check out the USGS Historical Topo Map in the photos below.
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