The GraveYard Shift

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Late Night on GraveYard Gold Mine Hidden Away In Forest Paradise
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Gold Mine Hidden Away In Forest Paradise

•Feb 17, 2021

TVR Exploring


This home and gold mining operation hidden away in the forest really left an impression on me… Perhaps it was the remoteness and the mist-covered forests giving it an otherworldly feel – or just how well it was preserved – but it seemed very easy to imagine what a life there would have been like. I couldn’t help feeling a wave of nostalgia when making our way through the abandoned mine and especially the home. Undoubtedly, my imagination is romanticizing what a life there would have been like, but being there in the 1930s with the local, gold-driven economy booming and far away from the problems of the world, it is hard not to view it as being a paradise. That was also a time before the world was as crowded as it is now and when plentiful adventures were still easy to find, which also appeals to me.

I am using the word “home” intentionally and I don’t think I have ever used that word when describing the accommodations at a mine before. Normally, we’ll see a bunkhouse or a cabin. Or even just a lean-to at some of the older, smaller mines… This, however, was a proper home and so I can only assume that it was probably the mine superintendent’s home.

The steep hills, extremely remote location and the era in which this home was constructed makes it almost state-of-the-art for its time with running water, electricity, etc. I didn’t show it in the video because the video was already getting very long, but there was a large water tank on the hill running up behind the mine. There was some evidence of past mining activity on the hill and even in the creek in the form of waste rock piles and scraps of rusted metal, but it is now just an extremely pretty hike (complete with wildflowers, giant old growth conifers and more) up to the top of the hill.

Records on this mine were sporadic, but seemed to indicate activity dating back to the 1800s. The presence of the mill was confirmed and a description of the workings from the early 1900s describes a raise leading to older workings. I don’t remember seeing something like that and so it may be behind some of those caved workings.

As you saw in the video, the ground in these adits was a bit sporty and so I am unsure how much longer the area we accessed may be possible to visit. In fact, it may already be gone. Hopefully, that home has many years left, but it also seemed that its days were numbered.