I just returned from a trip to California with my family for Thanksgiving. We decided to spend the day out in the famous Calico area. The "amazing" Bismark Mine was our destination for the day. Calico is located just seven miles east of Barstow, CA. It is dry, desolate, and usually quite windy. Vegetation of the area is a scattered sage and long grass. The geography included many fault lines and intense folding, the rock being mostly slate and schist.
The Bismark Mine is a gold and quartz mine, last in production in 1962. Its construction includes many glory holes, stopes, adits, and tunnels. It is very dry and dusty, and has been scavanged by collectors for everything its worth. One tunnel still had rail inside it. The rail was the older, cheaper type, made of wood with a flat steel layer on top. There were many stopes and levels inside. I investigated several levels and found them all to come to ends eventually. One tunnel went back and had many business cards, one of which is owned by me J. Several levels had wooden ore chutes, of a construction I have not seen before. They were square set, two feet wide, usually about 10-15 feet in depth, and had an exit of one foot high be two feet wide. I dropped down several levels and found much of the same.
The mine is dirty, full of trash and grafitti, has no minerals or artifacts left, and was hard to get to. Even with there being little to find, it was still fun to be underground again.
Many more photos:
The Bismark Mine is a gold and quartz mine, last in production in 1962. Its construction includes many glory holes, stopes, adits, and tunnels. It is very dry and dusty, and has been scavanged by collectors for everything its worth. One tunnel still had rail inside it. The rail was the older, cheaper type, made of wood with a flat steel layer on top. There were many stopes and levels inside. I investigated several levels and found them all to come to ends eventually. One tunnel went back and had many business cards, one of which is owned by me J. Several levels had wooden ore chutes, of a construction I have not seen before. They were square set, two feet wide, usually about 10-15 feet in depth, and had an exit of one foot high be two feet wide. I dropped down several levels and found much of the same.
The mine is dirty, full of trash and grafitti, has no minerals or artifacts left, and was hard to get to. Even with there being little to find, it was still fun to be underground again.
Many more photos:
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