Nelson NV Mines

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(Fig. 01)

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Directions: Take I-93 from Las Vegas towards Boulder City. Take the exit for I-95 south and continue for approximately 10 miles and turn left (east) onto NV SR-165. Follow this road until you get to the town of Nelson on the right.

(Fig. 03) (Fig. 04)

09/19/2015 Trip Notes: I decided to rent a jeep (Fig. 06) and drive to Eldorado Canyon in search of old gold and silver mines. After driving several miles down Eldorado Canyon Road (165) the town of Nelson came into view at the bottom of a steep hill (Fig. 01). Turning off the main road we drove through town, past some of its residents (Fig. 03) and several of the town’s old “mining shacks” (Fig. 04). Up the hill behind town (Fig. 02) there are literally dozens of old mines dotting the surrounding hills. Driving around this area (Fig. 05) definitely requires a high clearance 4WD vehicle (Fig. 06). As you can see from the map in (Fig. 02), we visited the Black Hawk and Carnation Mines. As you can see from the pictures in the collage below (Fig. 09), we spent the good part of the morning exploring the varying mines and prospects scattered around this area. After touring the area around the Carnation Mine we tried to drive down Gracy Wash back to the main road (Fig. 02). Unfortunately one area was washed out, that we had to turn back about three quarters of the way down. We stopped here and had lunch before we continued on. From here we did some more exploring a road on the other side of Nelson (Figs. 07 & 08) before heading down to Nelson’s Landing and Place Cove and the Techatticup Mining Camp at Eldorado Canyon See more below.

(Fig. 05) (Fig. 06)

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Of all the dozens of mines I have visited over the past several years, I have never encountered a mine that was as secured as the one in Fig. 01 in the collage. The sign welded on the door (Fig. 05) read “NO TRESPASSING - UNDER PENALTY OF THE LAW” The picture in Fig. 04 shows a cement footing for a water tank that supported the operation of the ore separating process and structure located behind it. The the metal water tank was dismantled and shoved into the large mine opening in the foreground. You can tell from some of the other pictures that we were able to venture several hundred feet into some of these mine. The picture in Fig. 08 is a shot showing the remains of a vein of ore that they appeared to be following into the side of the mountain.

(Fig. 10)

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