Several years into exploring we surprisingly enough had never heard of New Idria. After binge watching Wonder Hussy’s YouTube Channel we realized the site was no secret and…
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…
The Burgess Mine, a gold mine, sits high atop the ridge of the Inyo Mountains at 9600′ just SE of New York Butte. I thought I had read…
Unlike many of the sites we visit, Atolia has tons of data out on the web. Its relatively modern past from 1907 to 2007 combined with its extremely…
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…
Masonic is a true ghost town just a few miles north of Bodie. Originally founded as three towns by the Free Masons “Upper Town, Middle Town, and Lower…
Where is the Death Valley Mine you ask? Well, its not in Death Valley, it is smack dab in Mojave National Preserve. Mining the rich lead/silver/gold ore began…
Some of my favorite mines to explore are the one man operations. The Golden Egg Mine was bought in 1940 by German immigrant Karl Schapel who worked the…
Hite Cove (aka Hites Cove) is small mining camp tucked along the Merced River. John Hite discovered gold here in 1862 and ran the mine for 17 years.…
Why another silver mine on this Gold site? Well, honestly I could not help myself. I stumbled upon Cerro Gordo on a California travel website that had mistakenly…
Silver was found at the Bonanza King mine in 1880. By 1882 a large vein was struct valued at $1200 per ton. The mine was sold that year…
The Moser Mine or Moser Claims are a series of workings shown on USGS Topo only as prospects. In actuality there are extensive works including numerous adits, several…
Aurora Nevada is a fascinating ex-ghost town with almost nothing too see. How can there be an ex-ghost town? Well, that is the interesting part of Aurora. Once…
The Big Horn Mine is located in the southern part of Mojave National Preserve. Most noted for Hilltop House, a cabin built in the 30’s by mine owners…
Silver-lead mining began in 1882 at the Ibex Mine but was never very profitable and shut down by 1892. For the next 15 years the mines only resident…
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…
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 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…
Clair Camp is a popular 4×4 destination located 5 miles east of Ballarat. The road up Pleasant Canyon is flanked by dense vegetation and a tight squeeze for…
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…
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.…
Surrounded by Joshua Tree National Park on three sides, Eagle Mountain is more of a ghost city than a ghost town. Probably the largest and best preserved ghost…
We stumbled upon the Red Cloud Mine on route from Pleasant Canyon to South Park Canyon in Death Valley. After spending the night near Claire Camp at the…
What can I say, one of the coolest mining camps around. Only 30 remote minutes from Mariposa. The Sweetwater mining camp has a long and well documented history.…
One of my all time favorites. The Lost Burro almost has it all. A well preserved cabin with bed, table and artifacts, many open underground shafts to explore,…
In the foothills above the affluent San Jose suburb of Almaden Valley lies dozens of mercury mines and the ruins from nearly 140 years of mining operations. The…
William “Burro” H. Schmidt began gold mining in the area in 1906. Rather than haul his ore over the steep hill to the smelter in Mojave he decided…
Bonnie Claire began it’s life as a mining camp named Thorpe’s Well in the 1880’s. It became a town in 1904. Later the Bonnie Clare and Bullfrog Mining Company purchased…
We visited Harrisburg in 2014. Moderately preserved with moderate vandalism, sadly. Harrisburg is located in Death Valley National Park only a short distance west of the Eureka Mine.…
We have driven by and through Chinese Camp several times over the years on our travels up and down Highway 49 but never stopped. But now with Lake…
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…
Between Carson City and Las Vegas lies Goldfield, a boomtown that began in 1903 with the discovery of gold. Much of the town was destroyed by a fire…
The Lucy Gray is a popular 4X4 destination. Several structures are still standing in the camp and many adits have been sealed with bat gates but doubtful all as…
Noonday Camp consist of upper and lower camp as shown in the USGS topo map in the photo gallery below. No structures remain only foundations with the exception…
Don’t let the name fool you. This federal government owned mining site began operation in the early 1900. Modern operations began after WWII and continued into the 80′s.…
Bodie is the king of the ghost towns and also the most authentic mining town remaining in California. You wont find any hot dogs or souvenirs here (well,…
I stumbled upon some photos of the Yellow Jacket Mine, New York Mine, Caledonia Mine, and the Kentucky Mine. All seemed haunted, abandoned and isolated in the middle of…
Briggs Camp is a popular 4×4 destination with a well cared for cabin. The Cabin was built by Harry Briggs a miner and is now cared for by…
Everyone knows the Barker Ranch as the Manson Family hideout and probable location for several Manson Family murder clandestine graves. Located in Death Valley’s Goler Canyon. The ranch…
Several miles up the rugged and remote Jail Canyon exist the remarkably unaltered Corona Mine. The road up Jail Canyon has been washed away by flash flood many…
Want to buy a gold mine? There are plenty for sale near Standard Hill, W. W. Bowers first found gold here in March of 1894. There are dozens…
Founded in 1852 by French miners who struct gold in the nearby Tuolomne River La Grange was a mostly lawless town after mining all but ceased by 1880.…
We took off on a warm summer day to look for mines near highway 49 south of Lake McClure and made a pass through Hornitos. I call…
On a trip from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon we stumbled upon Chloride after a stop for gas in Uranus. Gold and other minerals were first discovered…
The “May Lundy Mine” is located at 11,000 ft on the east side of Mt. Scowden near the Tioga Crest. I doubt anyone has been up there for…
Chloride City is best known for the ruins of several “dug out” style dwellings (east of the pin) accessible by 4 wheel drive vehicles only. Also known for…
So why on earth is there a Nevada ghost town on a California Gold Rush site? Because Rhyolite was the queen of Death Valley’s gold boom. The town…
The Keane Wonder Mine (Death Valley) was discovered by Jack Keane in the early 1900’s along the Chloride Cliffs below Chloride City. In 1906 investors made the mine…
The Wall Street two stamp mill is located in the Joshua Tree National Park. The dry desert air along with the corrugated roof and heavy timbers have kept…
Skidoo, located in Death Valley National Park was famous in the early 1900′s. Producing over 75,000 ounces of gold. But by 1917 the town was abandoned. The only…
The old town of Coloma has some residents but is generally considered a ghost town. The only residents are museum/park workers and a few miners. Several original buildings…
Sometimes the temptation to go ghost towning and exploring abandoned mine shafts is overwhelming. On a family road trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon I couldn’t help…