We first visited this mine back in January and we have been itching to come back and explore it some more!  This mine is a giant labyrinth of tunnels and shafts that connect in only a few ways.

There are several raises that connect the majority of tunnels together.  We spent over 25+ hours exploring the tunnels and we probably only covered about 1/4 of the mines – yes it was gigantic!

The multiple entrances that lead into the mine are still wide open.  There are a few entrances that are partially caved but you can squeeze by if you lay flat on your back and slide in.

This mine was owned and operated by several companies through the years and you can certainly tell which parts are newer than the others.  On one mining document we found in the mine office, there are ten levels; 5600′, 5900′, 6200′, 6400′, 6500′, 6700′, 6800′, 7000′, 7100′ and 7200′.

There are tons of old concrete foundations, a four story mill, administration building, assay house, machine shop and more in the immediate vicinity.

On the 4400′ level we found a bore hole with a steel ladder that extends all the way to the 4800′ level with more tunnels on the 4500′ and 4700′ levels – a 400 foot ladder!  It was intense climbing up it.  Our originally intent was to climb all the way to the top but we got side tracked on the 4500′ level and spent the next several hours exploring it eventually finding an exit and by that time we were a little tired and the bore hole ladder was several miles of walking away.

There were so many drifts and stopes that we just couldn’t explore them all in time we had.  While exploring we found tons of cool and interesting artifacts including several toilets, old mining tools, slushers, muckers, wheels and more!

Obviously, the hazards in this large mine are everywhere.  There are nails, screws, pieces of glass and metal scattered all over.  Not to mention the potential for a tunnel collapse and bad air.  Please be careful and be prepared when entering mines.