Mother Lode (Northern)
The Winkeye Mine peaked our interest after watching a YouTube and reading a blog post by Justin Ames aka The Velvet Rocket. One of Justin’s earlier explorations before…
On a sunny spring morning way back in 2015 we set out for our second trip to the Allegheny district. This time we had the Morning Glory stamp…
Poker Flat history begins with the gold rush when extreme quantities of gold were pulled from the district as much as $700,00 per month (period values). Major hydraulic…
The Yuba Gold Dredge had been on our to do list for several years. Finally on a hot June day in 2018 on our way up to explore…
The Mugwump Mine is a drift mine only yards outside the town of Forest City along Oregon Creek below American Flat. We visited the Mugwump on a rainy…
In May of 2017 on a 4×4 trip from Washington, CA to Alleghany we stopped along side Washington Road at Washington Creek to let the dog go pee. Within…
Jim Crow Creek has a long and extensive mining history reaching back to the 1860’s including numerous “Bonanza” claims. On a hot summer day in July 2017 we…
The 16 to 1 Mine is one of the big boys on the block. Originally producing over one million ounces of gold the 16 to 1 is one…
The Kentucky Mill is one of the best preserved stamp mills I have had the pleasure to visit. A large part of that preservation is its more modern…
The Empire Mine has been on our list to explore for several years. We finally got a chance to drop in for the mine yard tour. The Empire…
Not much history on the Ophir Mine is out there. It does appear on USGS Topo but that’s about it. The Ophir is best know by off roaders…
Established in 1859 the town was named after the Alleghany Tunnel mine which was named after the Alleghany River. The town was home to the miners of the…
The Monte De Oro Mine’s stamp mill still stands in the woods only yards from the busy paved highway south of Woodleaf, CA. The dense forest hides it…
The North Fork Mine was worked from 1875 to the 1930’s with a 13 degree shaft 1000′ long and a crosscut 1000′ long and 3 levels of inclines…
Forest City California now called “Forest, CA” is a real lost gem. The town was once a booming gold rush town. Now several authentic buildings remain such as…
The Eby Stamp Mill is an example of the type of facility used in hard rock gold mining to crush ore. It is one of the few stamp…
Malakoff Diggins is California’s largest hydraulic gold mine. There are no shafts (except for massive drain tunnels) because the gold was dug up by using high pressure water…
The Plumas-Eureka State Park consist of the Plumas-Eureka (Mohawk) Stamp Mill, the museum was built in the old miners barracks, the Eureka Tunnel, nearby Jamisin City and mine, and the…
A mining settlement established in 1850. In 1852 a snow avalanche destroyed the camp and it was not resettled for several years. Today a few period buildings remain…
The mighty Plumbago Mine (aka lower Plumbago) and Stamp Mill has a long and rich history. Millions of dollars of high grade have been pulled from small pockets…
I added the Hiller Tunnel as a mine to visit because the 600 ft long tunnel is about as authentic as it gets. Though the tunnel is not…
A popular hiking destination located within Plumas-Eureka State Park. The Jamison was a top producer that once yielded a 52lb nugget. The mine site is also known as…
Not much is know about this 5 stamp mill other than the men pictured above restored it in 2012 to be placed in the Downieville Memorial Park along…
First settled in 1849 as “Nevada” but not incorporated until 1856 and the word “city” added in 1864. Today the town features many period buildings including hotels and…
The Mexican Mine has been on our to do list for a while. It wasn’t until our third trip to the area we were able to find it.…