Alta Mine 7 Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

Alta Mine 7 – Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah



The Trek Details

The Trek in a snapshot

Location: Alta, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah
Trail Condition: Lower part of this mine is easy to hike to but the upper part is steep and difficult
Summit Elevation: 9962 ft

GPS Coordinates

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The Trail

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Note: This is a reference Trek.  More details may be added later.

Mines are dangerous.  Enter at your own risk.

I do not know the name to this mine, so that is why it got assigned a generic name.

Getting to the lower part of this mine was pretty easy.  Getting to the top where the hoist is located is difficult.



This mine is clearly the largest producer in this valley.  You can see the light colored tailings anywhere you go and they almost draw you in and make you wonder what is at the top of the mountain where the upper entrance is located.  This mine seems to have two entrances: an upper (shaft) and a lower (tunnel).  The shaft up top has a large boiler just outside the entrance with a large gear mechanism behind it.  This gear is the hoist which raised and lowered carts and buckets.  The carts were loaded with ore and the ore would then be transferred below. 

The shaft has been covered with fencing and is extremely dangerous. Don’t walk on it as there is already a massive amount of weight on it and it may collapse.  The hoist is already under lots of rock and will soon be forgotten forever.  You can even see the wire rope still wound up on the hoist as if it’s waiting to pull up more ore.



The lower entrance has lots of relics, buckets, and random pieces of metal all over.  You can find lots of interesting rock too such as oxidized copper.  I found a very small rock with a spec of shiny gold on it.

If I had to estimate, I would say that this mine had 2+ miles worth of tunnels in the mountain.   The tailings pile is huge!



Personal Thoughts

Personal Thoughts

This was one of the better mines to explore on this side of the mountain. Lots of interesting relics and broken machinery around

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