Exploring the Abandoned Hippie Rock Mine in the Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, NM

I do my first rappel down a 100 foot inclined shaft to explore this old abandoned fluorite mine nestled in the Organ Mountains just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico. This mine features two adits (one small, one collapsed), an open stope, underground powder magazine, miner's cabin, and an inclined shaft that leads to two drift levels. The bottom drift level is home to a near barren underground workshop, grizzly, and over 600 feet of drifting. Now equipped with repelling gear, the limitation of exploring abandoned mines has been broadened! I hope you enjoy!
On a side note, entering this mine can be dangerous without the right equipment. I attempted to repel this mine with only a hand rope 2 years ago only to find out that I couldn't get out on my own and I had to be assisted out. I understand many explorers have successfully made it in and out of this mine with just a hand rope. I just overestimated my abilities at that time and if I didn't have someone with me to help, I could have been another statistic for the AML to promote closing more mines.
Don't do this kind of thing without the proper knowledge, equipment, or experience!
UPDATE: From the gracious information from Headframe Hunters on the slide rails, I dug a little deeper on the history of this mine. The original workings are from the early 1930s. The lower drift and inclined shaft is from a later date. Miners resumed mining for a short period in the early 1970s which explains the more modern features of this mine.
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#AbandonedMines
#MineExploring

[@GenAfterNextTactics]

That rope that you used to get down was my rope. I brought it with me but didn’t want to coil it back up and pack it out. Plus I knew it was still good and people could use it. When I left though I made sure to tie it off inside the portal in case someone walked by they wouldn’t see a rope leading into anywhere, I wanted it to stay hidden. Also I tied it off pretty good I thought in case someone was trusting enough to use it. Cool video though, it is super sketchy to go down there, especially by yourself. I’m not sure if it was my mind playing tricks on me but it seemed like it was harder to breath down in that bottom drift.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

I actually brought my own 10.5 mm static rope. I noticed a lot of different ropes left behind, especially at the bottom. At a previous visit, someone left a duffel bag of old static rope with u bolts in the hopper. This time around it was gone.

[@GenAfterNextTactics]

Southern New Mexico Explorer Yeah I noticed that at the end of the video. I did it without any descenders or ascender which is scary. I want to find some more to explore in the area but I can’t really find any. I think there’s another one on the east side of the organ mountains north of the highway. You can see a yellow tailings pile.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

@@GenAfterNextTactics there's a lot to see if you're willing to make the drive! The yellow waste rock pile is on WSMR property unfortunately. The big mine to the north of this one has 3 entrances, just the main one is a vertical rapell and is pretty deep.

[@GenAfterNextTactics]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND If its the same one i'm thinking of, i think i know what you're talking about. I want to say there's quarry just west of it? Idk, all i can go by is what i see on google maps because the mining claim sites are pretty bad and not very accurate at all. My goal is to find the mines in the Cloudcroft or Ruidoso area but hours of climbing around on the side of the mountains i still cant find any. I'll keep an eye out on your channel if you ever make it back over to my area .

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

@@GenAfterNextTactics I'm pretty close to the Las Cruces area, about 40 minutes away. I've been going farther out to see the BIGGER mines. Going to visit a large one tomorrow that I've been to already, just didn't finish it out.

[@allieleyva2759]

This is an AMAZING video!!! Thanks for sharing!

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you so much!

[@jbirmingham2112]

I love this. This is one of my favorite places in the Organs.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you! Probably going up there this week to survey the old silver mine north of there!

[@MPGunther1]

👍 Thanks for taking us along

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

It was my pleasure! Plenty more adventures to come!

[@SueGirling68]

Hi Justin, you did better on that rope than I would've done. A nice little man, seeing that grizzly was cool as you don't see them too often inside a mine. Thanks for sharing, much love. xx🙏💖

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you! That was actually my first rappel! It wasn't anything crazy, as there are others who made it down there with just a hand rope! There is another video out there where they went down that mine that way! These guys seemed to have a blast doing it----- kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKe8hYeHZrtrgsk

[@nickglaza]

This is the coolest thing ever. I love the Las Cruces area, who knew this would be here! What an adventure!

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

It is a cool little mine! There are much larger ones in the area, but serious rope skills are required to enter them! Thanks for the comment!

[@nickglaza]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND must feed the algorithm! 😉

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

@@nickglaza lol, right?! Nobody knows what to feed it, lol.

[@mctron22rd]

We call that the rock house! My mom used to go walking up there and she showed us it was amazing! She is no longer here anymore cuz of covid. Her name was Carol and my brother's who also passed away Joey and Sherman. They knew more about those mountains than anyone I thought. It's gorgeous up there and would live to trace my mom's steps. She definitely was a hippie to! That mine didn't have all the huge rocks infront of it, when I was a kid I could look right into it and see inside the mines walls. You could see the purple and green fluorite and I tried taking my rocks down but I was only 8 so they where heavy. Still to this day I am a rock hound. My mother used to live in Organ to, I guess when me and my twin where born. I would love to go back up there.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Hey there! Thanks for commenting. I'm sorry to hear about your losses in your family. Covid is a terrible thing. The Rock House is the common name for that cabin. The spring next to it on topo maps is named "Rock House Spring." It appears that there was an attempt to backfill that shaft, explaining why the boulders are there. It seems like the more colorful fluorite is closer to the surface, as not much is seen on the drift level. One used to be able to drive up to the mine in a very capable 4 wheel drive, and to the Rock House with a stock 4 wheel drive. That's not the case anymore since the BLM installed a steel barrier preventing vehicular access to the trail. I hiked from the road with supplies and rope gear to the mine. Thanks for watching!

[@mctron22rd]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND That m8ne is fascinating and I am a serious rock hound and I would love to know about rockhounding sites. Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate it really, I am sure you know about La queva up there and the old miners ghost town, and if your interested I am not sure you know about Kilbourne's hole? It's a giant volcano that looks like a huge crater. It's an interesting place and if your lucky you can find some peridot there to.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

@@mctron22rd there are many fascinating places around here! I've been to both Kilbourne Hole and LA Cueva. Got some peridot from Kilbourne before it became part of the national monument. Have you been to Tonuco Mountain? There's a decent fluorite mine up there as well. Only thing is it is a bit of a pain to get up there.

[@mctron22rd]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND I can't say I have been to tunuco mountain before, but it sound awesome, if it is any mountain near Las Cruces I probably have been there before. My aunt Was an archeologist and she has found some pretty cool artifacts, even up in the Organs, She had found an old Native American burial ground. It was way up ther north of the path. She had hundreds of thousands of arrow heads. My mother and my aunt would spend their free time in the Oregans.

[@insatiabie]

@@mctron22rd was her maiden name Compton?

[@mahalomana2]

Awesome video thank you for sharing!

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@user-mi5tc8pw4t]

My God I love Southern New Mexico and Cruces ❤️❤️

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

It's a unique place with interesting places to explore!

[@NickatLateNite]

I lived in Las Cruces for 7 years & sadly never knew of this place and I explored a little bit too🤔

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

The mountains out there hold many secrets! Many places people have heard about, but don't know their locations. That's part of the fun - trying to figure out where places are at!

[@johnbrownlee7623]

Very good job on the video........Thanks.....................JB............

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you!!!

[@Porty1119]

At 15:47, those are slide rails running to the face. They can be extended incrementally as the shot is mucked out. Seeing those tells me they were running an overshot mucker. The interesting thing there is that overshot muckers were first sold in 1938. Between that, the spray painted survey markings on the ribs, and the canvas vent bag - this mine was worked after 1933.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

You are absolutely right! After digging around, I found that they did some more exploratory mining between 1973 and 1975! Good eye and I appreciate the insight!! You have quite some knowledge.

[@Porty1119]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND That makes a lot of sense! The dimensions and arrangement of that drift are strikingly similar to one in an operating mine in Grant County. I'm working peripherally to the hard rock mining industry here in NM; I may have a major stake in an operating mine later this year.

[@billhillify4924]

My dad was climbing in those with his NMSU buddies in the early 60’s

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

They're a lot of fun!

[@TheSWolfe]

In our youthful quarter-bounce days, we'd oft be reduced to Milwaukee's Jest or Gerbil's (Goebbels). Never tried Ice, tho. Looking back on this fine Mother's Day morn, I think to myself, my God, we drank some beers! Lol. I preferred good label stout, but as group we drank so much, by end of day, pooling funds, 'twas all we could do to keep game going. Stopped mid-America once during budget cross-country drive for sixxer of generic - blech! Also shared another of lukewarm same pre-show Pittsburgh in stifling rental car w/L.A. rockstar (friend of old man's (R.I.P.) Said adios hooch 25 yrs ago, but we surely swilled our share. Oh yeah, cool explore, btw!

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Lol! That's a story!

[@coeneschamaun1735]

Do any of you remember hearing about a missing man, his name is Stephen Carey? Seems all they ever found was his car at the Baylor Canyon trailhead. I always figured that he fell and was injured, or fell / got lost /trapped in a mine. He went missing in July 2018, I am surprised that his remains still haven't been found. Has anyone, of you extreme explorers, heard anything about him lately? Thanks

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

I do remember him going missing. There was a rescue party that went looking for him near Baylor Canyon. White Sands Missile Range denied airspace for drone coverage. There are a couple of deep shafts in that area, as far as I know, haven't been checked... but I could be wrong. I do remember a foul odor coming from one a couple of years back, but it didn't resemble a decomposing body, human or animal. Who knows what happened to him?

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

UPDATE: We rappelled down a vertical mine shaft near here. There was no sign of him there.

[@townsand72]

I've been wanting to see down in there since I was a kid! Used to look way different.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thanks for watching! Just out of curiosity, what's different?

[@townsand72]

@ABANDONED UNDERGROUND there were long timbers lined side by side with ropes going down, i never had the balls to go down there lol

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

@@townsand72 the long timbers are still there! They're just beyond the huge boulder obstructing the collar.

[@townsand72]

@ABANDONED UNDERGROUND very cool! Nice to live vicariously through you for a few..

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

@John Townsand I appreciate it! That video is a small adventure. There are much larger ones that I've shared here, some more vicarious than others!

[@dinosquadgamingmytiktokisd8141]

Cool video. Been up there on my jeep

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you!!! Unfortunately, you can't drive up there anymore as the BLM gated the entrance to the old mine road. Had to hike to it from the road.

[@dinosquadgamingmytiktokisd8141]

Havnt been up there in a while

[@dinosquadgamingmytiktokisd8141]

I use the same mold

[@dinosquadgamingmytiktokisd8141]

3 different sizes

[@TomandJulieMineExploring]

Nice job on the video. Pretty cool and colorful ore vein. Please be careful rappelling and mindful of things like that loose timber before you get below them. I'm glad that your rope didn't dislodge that when you were below it.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you! It was my first rapell and it was quite an experience!

[@nefariumxxx]

I think it was a disposable plastic cigar tube near the end on the ground.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

I believe you are right! I can't believe that someone would smoke a cigar a 100 feet down and 600 feet in with no airflow! Crazy!

[@user-zx5el6zp3b]

Is there a site or directions to these mines? I live in Las Cruces and would like to do some exploring

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Topoview and Google Earth is how I started. You can also go on the MRDS website and have kml overlays on Google Earth to show you where mines are at!

[@Phylonyous]

Did you have to park along Baylor road and walk to Top Hut?

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Unfortunately, the BLM has closed the road to vehicles. You do have to hike from the road now.

[@TomandJulieMineExploring]

I just watched another video of this mine on lordmcgrim's channel from a couple years ago. Were you one of the four guys in that video?

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Actually, no I wasn't. I've seen that video as well. The way they went down, in my opinion, was way more dangerous. They just used a hand rope. They seemed to have a great time exploring though! That mine isn't big. It's a 100 foot inclined shaft with about 600 feet of drifting.

[@TomandJulieMineExploring]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND That was dangerous for sure. I thought I recognized your voice and from your video it sounded like you had been in there before.

[@Lordmcgrim]

Hey all, lordmcgrim here, but i've since re-branded my channel to fit the videos I have kept public. So cool that you all found my video and this mine! Very neat place to explore. And yes, the way we climbed down was more dangerous, we did not use any harnesses. As the catchphrase goes, do as I say not as I do, haha.

[@TomandJulieMineExploring]

@@Lordmcgrim Thanks for the comment.

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

That was still an awesome video! Have you been anywhere lately?

[@georgesmith8113]

👍👍😎

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Thank you!

[@charleswilliams2746]

Do you know anything about the Stephenson Bennett mine? Is it the same as the Ruby mine?

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

I do, and I've been inside both! You may have seen the inside of the Ruby already (wink, wink). The SB is one that is harder to access. The adits have been destroyed from quarry work done after the mine was closed, along with the main shaft. The only way into the main workings is vertically with rope gear.

[@TheSWolfe]

Not that I know much compared to you all re mining/mine exploring, those tracks are tall and strange looking, with unusually sharp turn angles. Feedback?

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

You are absolutely right! Those are "slide-rails". They are of a more modern design (probably from the 1970s). I am unclear of exactly how they worked, but as the name implies, you were able to slide more track into place as the tunnel advanced. Thanks for watching!

[@Porty1119]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND Your slide rails are regular rails, turned ninety degrees and set inside your main rails so that the wheels run on the web of the slide rails. You push them out gradually as you muck the pile, to allow your mucker to advance closer to the face. Thankfully we're just running rubber-tire now and I won't have to deal with a 12B for another year or two. Granted I've probably jinxed myself by saying that, especially since two 24" gauge diesel mine locomotives just showed up at our yard...

[@openmic4153]

Can you tell me where this is so I can explore it?

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

This is a well-known mine that's in the Organ Mountains outside of Las Cruces, NM. Thanks for watching!

[@regularman7802]

EXPLORED THAT MINE YEARS AGO AS A TEEN

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

You're part of the minority of folks who venture down that part! Most just stick to the open stope and surface! Cheers!

[@bartramdilks26]

I thought this was called the Ruby mine?

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Lol! It is. Actually it has two names- Ruby and Hayner. Some call it the Hayner-Ruby Mine. I like to not use the actual names of the mines for a myriad of reasons, mainly to protect the mines from vandalism and the AML.

[@bartramdilks26]

@@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND that makes sense. I enjoyed the video. I love the Organ Mts

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

@@bartramdilks26 thank you! There's plenty to see in those mountains!

[@deadeena]

My dad lives hear

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

It's a cool place!

[@lascrucespics9235]

IM theere

[@Boom-rs3mx]

No gold

[@ABANDONED_UNDERGROUND]

Not in that mine, just fluorite.