La Trinidad Mine, California

The La Trinidad Mine is located on a butt kicker of a trail that heads almost straight down to the American River in the Tahoe National Forest. Guy, Dan, Cat, and I hiked all the way down to this remote mine on a very steep trail with temps in the 90's. Alysia was smart enough to wait at the truck for us (just in case someone was needed to call the paramedics). As we descended further down the trail Guy, Dan, and Cat started talking about lynching me if this Stamp Mill I told them about did not appear soon.

Then half way down the trail I realized that I had forgot my new Canon 10D digital camera!, No way in Hell was I going to go back and get it! So the pics on this page are taken by Guy Starbuck and used with his gracious permission. When I saw the pics I realized that in just about every picture Guy tried to take I was blocking the view (Sorry Guy)!

The La Trinidad Mine is located in Sailor Canyon as part of the Canada Hill mining district which also included Sailor Flat, Robertson Flat, and the New York Canyon areas. The 10-Stamp Mill was water powered and the mine tunnel was about 1500 feet deep. The entrance to the mine is now caved.

Tahoe National Forest is in the process of cleaning up this site to remove the mill tailings, the mill building might possibly be damaged during this cleanup depending on the amount of arsenic found in the processed tailings there.

Unfortunately, the Tahoe National Forest has no plans to stabilize and preserve this historic site.

This 10-Stamp Mill was worth the killer hike!

Poor Guy just couldn't seem to take a picture without me standing in the way!