Tuesday, January 5, 2010

RIP, Gold Springs..

Sunday, December 27, 2009, I met up with a friend and headed out to Gold Springs ghost town/mine in southern Utah. This ghost town is up in the mountains northwest of Modena, UT. Gold Springs was home to the Jennie Mine.

This particular mine is truly a "ghost." It was reclaimed and demolished in 2004.

The Jennie mine was once home to some of the most impressive mining ruins in southern Utah.

Here's what the mine site USED to look like. These photos are courtesy of Cat Evans. Check out her awesome ghost town site HERE.





There isn't much info online about Gold Springs, HERE is a link with some info.

I headed out about 9am Sunday and met with a friend in Cedar City. We headed out west on highway 56 toward Modena. About a mile west of Modena we turned off onto the Gold Springs road. The snow wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Once we got up into the mountains a bit the snow was getting about 12"-18" deep. But most of the roads already had tracks on them so we were good. Also good thing I got new tires on my Toyota the day before. :)

After about an hour from turning off the paved road we reached the Gold Springs cabins site. These cabins were built tough and are still standing, but are in very bad shape.


Cabin #1


Cabin #2


Supposedly squatters have lived here over the years.


The Toyota did great in the snow.


After we explored around the cabin site a bit we headed up the twisty snowy road toward the mine site.

Here is what the mine looks like now:











Virgin Snow!


As you can see, there's nothing left that's very impressive. Especially in the snow. I probably should have taken more pictures.. but it was pretty cold. ;)

After we looked around a bit we headed back the way we came and headed over to a place called the apple orchard. Apparently this was a pioneer townsite, that isn't on any maps or in any books. We drove around aimlessly for a while, and right before we were about to turn around we found the site. It was pretty impressive, I'll definitely go back when there isn't snow on the ground. There were quite a few ruins of older cabins and a few dilapidated more modern cabins.

Here's a few pics.


Main Cabin


Horse skulls on the gate.


Bedroom


Yuck!


Old bathroom inside the cabin


We explored around this area a bit and decided to head out. On the way out we found this mine site off the side of the road.




This thing was at lease a hundred feet deep.


It was getting about mid afternoon and we decided to head back. Instead of going back the way we came we decided to go all the way over the mountain and into Pioche, NV. Pioche looks like one of the coolest towns I've seen in a long time. I'm definitely heading back there this spring. There's a mine and mill site right in the town. It's private property, but I know a few people and will try to get some access to go explore!






It was a fun day. I got home about 5pm. I hadn't been out for a while and it was nice to get out and get lost in the middle of nowhere. Can't wait to do it again!!! Until next time!!

Biggest Adventure Thus Far..

So Dec 1st I closed on a 3 bedroom/2 bath 1700 square foot house. My first house. I know I am taking a big risk buying a house right now. It's been a long time coming and took a lot of hard work to finally get.

My kids and I couldn't be happier.

Here's a few pics.