On the way to a family trip to Glenwood Springs, I saw this huge structure off the side of the road.  I quickly found the next exit and found a way over to the structure to take some pictures.  There are several buildings, shacks, and other structures worth seeing and you could see most everything without ever leaving your car!  It’s clear that these structures are for mining and I quickly discovered that this was a coal mine.  You could easily see everything here in about 10 minutes.  It’s neat to see up-close and you can quickly tell that this was a very large operation.

Abandoned mines are inherently dangerous, but coal mines are something I will not enter.  This mine is luckily caved in, but coal mines are considered “soft rock” mines which are more susceptible to collapse and cave-ins.

According to this news article, there was an explosion and fire on February 18, 1896 that killed 49 miners.  The bodies were eventually recovered, but there is an underground fire STILL burning to this day.  It is the longest burning coal-seam fire in the country.  To read more about this mine please click here.

You can see the giant ore hopper and some ore tracks.  On the left-hand side of the road, you can see a small shack.  You can see many pieces of metal and parts from machinery.  Please be respectful and do not remove or collect any of these relics.