Old Mines & Abandoned Cabins (El Paso Mountains)

A nice camping, hiking and exploring trip up in the El Paso Mountains. I came across some old mining cabins and adjacent mines.

[@renepaz4208]

Great looking views. Cant wait for the next one.

[@f150twinturbo7]

Awesome Adventure dude. Stay safe out there 😎👍

[@pjhinman7917]

Great video.😊

[@Smithsgold]

That’s along run !! Cool video

[@franklopez2969]

I was confused at first, I have climbed all over the Franklin Mountains in El Paso TX, and did not recognize anything!

[@Oidium45]

Over the years I have realized that as people traveled west in search of gold they took the names of places with them. Probably out of loneliness. Or perhaps just a lack of creativity.

[@charlesvannest2521]

very enjoyable video you are one brave guy , and your speech is load and clear stay safe and god bless

[@Toolmamon]

Awesome! Stay safe out there!!

[@edenuccio3690]

I like how simple your videos are. No animations or gimmicks just straight to it

[@gold-denprospecting8066]

Hi Thanks for the vids. You are a game man going into a mine that is possible got gas. I'm in Australia and I have a gas detector (Peel), Detects 4 gases' and low oxygen. Some gases' are odourless and very dangerous. Anyway you got out safe and showed us some great sites. Not sure if you can get that detector over there. Dennis

[@weekendprospector9787]

They never leave enough evidence of what exactly they were chasing. I'm always in wonder.🤔 Thanks for sharing.

[@meanboycoins6250]

You are living the life!

[@tuppet7]

Great video

[@UKAbandonedMineExplores]

Some nice colours from the veins in this one.

[@StevenSchoolAlchemy]

Cool beans!

[@DamonFeyOutdoors]

Really enjoyed watching, but you're crazy brother. Won't catch me going back that far into those mines. Be well

[@Oidium45]

You will some day ;) we will peer pressure you into it 🤣

[@tadvanallen]

That last tunnel was like looking into two mirror's... kept going forever it seemed.. still really cool...

[@alphabror835]

Great stuff here. I’m hoping to make it out there in the spring if I can find a co-pilot. Hate doing solo runs too dangerous. Bring a black light in these mines if ya wanna see mineral magic 👍👍🍺🍺

[@melissakennedy3676]

This is crazy nuts

[@jeffgray4602]

Thank you very much! I’m loving your videos. Was this taken in Texas ? Awesome 👏

[@Oidium45]

Thanks! We are in California. I understand the confusion due to the name. It is quite a common mixup. Some silly person decided to name one of our mountain ranges "El Paso Mountins".

[@shirleywilliamson1964]

I lived at the Holland Camp for 4 years while my father worked the Apache mines.

[@lorrainemiale467]

Thank You!

[@edwardmounsey9208]

The last tunnel was fairly long. It seems as if they must have had some good ore to justify such an effort to make a tunnel as long as they did? Great video, thank you for posting.

[@Oidium45]

From what I have seen sometimes there is a vein spotted up top and they blast a haulage adit through the mountain hoping to get underneath because it is far easier to drop ore into carts and roll them out vs pulling the ore up through a vertical shaft. That seemed to be the case there. At least to me. Either there was a collapse at the end of that adit and there were some stopes that were unacceptable or that was back fill and the vein didn't produce like they had hoped. Both are rather common sadly.

[@rickschipper]

Always enjoy your videos. You go into some sketchy places but very interesting. I too have always wondered why it was such Coarsegold in the foothills of the El Paso’s but the Hard rock mines don’t seem to have done much quite a few copper mines in the area and that’s the bottom base metal I guess the good stuff you wrote it off the top eons ago. Check out the KZbin Forgotten Mining history he posted some video of some of the mines went to.

[@Oidium45]

Thanks, will do

[@MarkBrockman1956]

Can I ask something? It seems like the holes on the tops of the hills are almost always vertical shafts. Why don’t you start down with some of the lower adits?

[@Cheese_based_lifeform]

I've often wondered about the fact there isn't a large mine because of the nuggets that have been found to. I think the source veins for them are long gone. 😢😢

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

it's all like a clay hard dirt washing down for thousands of years gold all over hell second biggest producer in california RANDSBURG Ca

[@RedmanOutdoors366]

Bro where the Red stuff was mixed in with the Grey that's a Gold vien 💪😎🇺🇸⛏️🦅🍺💯it became a placer deposit millions of yrs ago from the Ocean today it's higher elevation but the placer materials contain the gold if you were to crush a bunch of that material you would get rich Today it's probably a double load deposit

[@SagebrushRebel]

I explored this area back in Dec. 1989. I think you're showing Gerbracht Camp (not sure) as the cabin. The first mine has a live snake at 16 minutes point, that's a cool shot. Later your last adit , the very long one, I'm pretty sure is the Copper Chief Mine which was operated in 1940-1950 era. My 12/1989 notes say " explored 750-foot adit trending west, two 30-foot drifts near end, 12 X 12 timbering noted." The workings in this video match my 1989 description, but where are the 12X 12 timbers? Keep the videos coming, Rick in Oregon.

[@Oidium45]

Thank you for the info! The mine sounds correct. I will look into it a bit. As for the first cabin someone chimed in as it being Walsh Cabin. I am still unsure about the second unless you are referring to the "Rock Palace". As for the snake, you must have been skipping through and missed me falling on my butt when I noticed it. 😛

[@Oidium45]

Prior to me entering the mine above the rock palace I noted a smaller adit to the left. As best I can tell that is a tungsten mine called J.D. Voss. I have not been able to find much more than that. Feel free to share a link to whatever data you have.

[@SagebrushRebel]

@@Oidium45 You can find a wealth of information in California Division of Mines and Geology, County Report 1, Mines and mineral resources of Kern County California. Copper Chief Mine is described on page 86. I have the paper copy with the county map. If it's still available in paper, cool. If not maybe it's on PDF? You need to contact CDMG in Sacramento to obtain copies of CR1. Good luck in your prospecting and mine explorations.

[@Oidium45]

@@SagebrushRebel ah, thanks!

[@stevewoods293]

Cool mine 😅😅😅

[@Bicameral666]

Great job, you should GUESS at what you think they might be chasing. Even if not right, it would be something.

[@Oidium45]

I did not do that?

[@jonryan5339]

We appreciate you taking us along on your adventures, however not a wise move to enter into any mine without having an oxygen or gas meter for your safety. Happy hunting....

[@bobsmith-jc9mj]

Could I get the GPS locations to those mines and cabin?

[@mojavegreen1804]

Next time you're feeling a adventurous look up the Nadeau mine. Its located west of inyokern on the Eastern face of the sierras. Easy to get to in a 4wd. They left ALL their equipment there. Lots of it. Was a hard rock gold mine. Nice place to camp. Unbelievable what these miners left behind.

[@Oidium45]

Thanks for the info! I went up near there one day for some light exploring with my son. I believe we were on 9 mile canyon rd. I was surprised how many small adits there were in the hills. Could certainly house some cool stuff up there for future exploration :)

[@Oidium45]

Is this correct? 35.6911111111, -117.961666667

[@mojavegreen1804]

I'm pretty sure that's the same place. Indian Wells Canyon road is also referred to as Nine Mile Canyon. Causes some confusion because the road from 395 to Kennedy Meadows is also called Nine Mile Canyon Rd. The amount of heavy equipment left at Nadeau Mine is crazy. I guess they could not figure out how to take it back down the hill. There's the old miners cabin there. Nice camping spot.

[@mojavegreen1804]

BTW there's a KZbin video entited nadeau mine in indian wells Canyon that shows the area.

[@mojavegreen1804]

Those gps coordinates are correct.

[@johnhoon7069]

Actually dry wash those are tailing piles cuz I find the super fine gold that the miners missed

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

I don't know where you live but when I was out there I took the 395 home to the 15 in hesperia (main st /phelan rd) then left to pick up the 15 south then you can pick up the 210 ,10 ,60 freeways same way back left on garlock rd better way then the 5 to the 14/58 then on the 14 again then the right on redrock /randsburg rd up to you you have a map for there if so where did you get it from please

[@Oidium45]

I am coming from the other side of the hill so the 14 to Redrock is the quickest option. As far as a map I just spent a lengthy period of time examining areas through google maps and flagged areas of interest.

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

@@Oidium45 if you feel like it group outing next weekend go to gpaa.net your a member of gpaa right (benson canyon) maybe I'll see you there pat says the gold has been flowing down for thousands of years people om quads have road all over the place (GOLD EVERY WHERE) and greedy gringos every where (you don't have to be a gringo)

[@Oidium45]

@@greedygringoprospecting6941 hahaha, I will check it out! If I can manage a trip up then I will see you there.

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

@@Oidium45 pat's meeting is open so you just have to show up ask pat (call keene engineering)

[@arne6787]

There are at least two other spots to check out, one takes a day and about 3mi hike into a cabin.

[@Oidium45]

There are certainly more areas to explore up there. Every time I open google maps I spot something new and of course laying boots on the ground you end up finding a ton of places that did not stand out on the maps.

[@arne6787]

@@Oidium45 This one I went to, Russian Miner cabin.

[@405george]

Is there no h2s fumes down there?

[@gerardomartinez8749]

Where is this mountain located

[@christianavila2743]

I live in El Paso and I want to go to the cabin, do you know the exact coordinates? Or a map that can lead me there

[@Oidium45]

I can give you a hint. If you follow Iron canyon up to where you are right in the middle of EP11 and Mesquite Canyon you should spot it pretty easily on a map.

[@michaelpolanco3789]

Hey I just seen your video and been looking for hour to get your hint but I really lost would help for a another hint

[@danielabilez3619]

What did the Geologist say when he got there?

[@hgallegos915]

El paso tx? Or nm?

[@BrettHoustonTube]

California

[@arne6787]

May be going to the U mine to map the cpm w my Atom FAST today.

[@Oidium45]

I would advise not to go inside. You wouldn't want any particles of that stuff in your lungs, eyes, nose or mouth. Be safe and enjoy your trip!

[@arne6787]

@@Oidium45 best to go on humid day

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

did you check out a lot of the quartz a lot of people don't carry a loupe

[@Oidium45]

I checked out some but not as much as I would have liked due to time constraint but I will be back.

[@jesusbalderrama8215]

Salt lake in El paso?

[@IvanhoeWolfe-zn6fc]

Yeap. Well it's 80 miles to the east. There is was big salt lake. We're accaully it was a sea. Want to buy 10 acres on the old shore? I'll sell it for $20,000.

[@danishnative9555]

Gopher snakes are really good citizens. You should have rescued.

[@Oidium45]

It was 45F outside of the mine and I would guess somewhere around 75F inside. It was probably enjoying the warmth and buffet of mice.

[@randysims3201]

Are you in new Mexico or texas

[@Oidium45]

California

[@wolfpack3384]

@@Oidium45 Exactly what causes gas buildup in mines?

[@TheProductions101]

Where is this?

[@Oidium45]

El Paso mountains CA.

[@Dunechaser1]

Walsh Cabin

[@Oidium45]

Thanks!

[@davarasbronson5088]

Just looking at this makes me shake my head. And then yall wonder why you wakeup dead! Um um ummmm! 😐

[@dantegreenmxthenaturalist1939]

Change the title in your video!!! You confuse the people from El Paso TX. this is un CA well, add there EL PASO MOUNTAINS IN CALIFORNIA!!

[@Oidium45]

I do not discriminate. I welcome the Texas community to view my videos as well! Thanks for watching!

[@everardobalandran6079]

I was tripping out...there is a Mesquite near El Paso, TX...I agree. Label this correctly please.

[@IvanhoeWolfe-zn6fc]

Want gold mines near El Paso, Texas? There is gold near it. Just most don't know about it. Several mines you can not go to. People even say there is no gold in Texas. But there is. Several gold mines are in the Guetalupia mountains. Before the Forest department closed them down to make the park that El Capitan, the tallest mountain in Texas is located. There is a lot of gold in Far southwest Texas. But it 500 to 2000 feet down.

[@jeffreymcneal1507]

What in God’s green acre would drive men to bore like moles into this Godforsaken Hellscape? And was all this labor worth it? Be nice to know a bit more history. One see’s quartz and gold comes to mind, but you reference silver a lot. Where did the process the ore and how did they transport it? Open scene of “There Will Be Blood” written all over this.