Wow, this kind of explore has been #1 on my bucket list for several years now, so I am totally jealous (but glad you shared photos with us)! I’ve spent many hours researching Google and Topo maps in hopes of finding a place like this, so kudos to you for getting it done.

Do you know what they were mining out of there that required such extensive underground machinery? I’ve never seen anything like that - even in pictures I don’t think. At least not in the US.

One more question; I live in a place that rarely sees ice (I live in Texas, so yes, last week was an obvious exception) so I have no idea what is creating those odd ice pillars. Do you know what that is or what causes them? Just curious.

Awesome post!

Edit: ok, I lied because I have a couple more questions, lol.
First of all, do you have any idea how deep you guys were down there or how many levels that is? I’m also curious how you got down - if you were able to use their equipment or if y’all had to use ropes? I’m just trying to get the whole visual so I can live vicariously through you guys.

Wow!!! This is an awesome location and set of photos! Great work!

Posted by becckeez Your underground adventures are always so cool. Love this set!

Thanks! I am glad people love seeing them. I wish it was easier to post! I have so many images just sitting that I need to upload.

Posted by Dee Ashley Wow, this kind of explore has been #1 on my bucket list for several years now, so I am totally jealous (but glad you shared photos with us)! I’ve spent many hours researching Google and Topo maps in hopes of finding a place like this, so kudos to you for getting it done. Do you know what they were mining out of there that required such extensive underground machinery? I’ve never seen anything like that - even in pictures I don’t think. At least not in the US. One more question; I live in a place that rarely sees ice (I live in Texas, so yes, last week was an obvious exception) so I have no idea what is creating those odd ice pillars. Do you know what that is or what causes them? Just curious. Awesome post! Edit: ok, I lied because I have a couple more questions, lol. First of all, do you have any idea how deep you guys were down there or how many levels that is? I’m also curious how you got down - if you were able to use their equipment or if y’all had to use ropes? I’m just trying to get the whole visual so I can live vicariously through you guys.

While I did a bit of research and found some maps/ history enough to find the entrance relatively easily,
I cannot take credit for finding the place, Akron, another user on UER is probably the leading expert on the locations history, and most the underground in Colorado.
Akron was the first person I met IRL and he has been my underground guru and local expert. That dude is literally modern Indiana jones (without stealing artifacts lol).

I believe he knows more about this place than anyone out there. He has done some vast research to find things like maps about this place. ( He has gone through pretty much all the documents pertaining to mining history in our state that exist.) It seems there is a pretty good understanding of how vast the actual mine is now due to past trips lead by him and others on here.
Most things require no rope, (I just bring hiking stuff lots of lights, food, water, camera and knee high boots. I do not own a gas meter yet, however it seems this area is pretty safe. There is hope to maybe find some sort of breathing apparatus to allow us to venture down a vent shaft, however a lot would still need to be worked out in that regard to make that expedition happen lol. I still have yet to be trained in the use of rope.
Due to covid sadly I have yet to be able to have a guided trip with Akron so a good friend and I have been going here as frequently as we can. Each time we go we have stumbled into new places/ wings because its that big.
I had seen content from both him and others that lead me to believe this place was still open. I knew there would be a way in, so we spent a day locating it. (most doors are locked). I just used common since looking for areas that could be entrances and referencing stuff on UER. It seems the mine was one of the biggest at the time it was open.

Our last trip failed due to going in a blizzard with 2 feet of snow and snow shoes, after a long trek we got near only to find a worker and he turned us around. That was a sad hike back.
It is fairly easy to avoid them once you know the location tho.

I think this place mined a variety of metals, I think it was just more the quantity that was mined, and the scale of the operation that lead to all this more than what they were mining. I don't want to go into to much detail just to protect it because it is probably the coolest place we have in Colorado. If you wanted to DM im always down to talk urbex! I travel for my job and was in Texas the past few weeks! yall have insane drains in fort worth!

Regarding the ice, my understanding is that the same way stalactites form is similar to how these form. There is always a bit of water dripping underground. Just imagine that from around august- March this location is constantly hit with snow and freezing temperatures so ice seems to build up during all that and form crazy shapes. My hope is to make another trip any time now so that we can see the Ice at its peak size before it melts again.

So as far as depth I know we have maps, but I do not remember exactly. The area I have explored is mainly 2 levels with a ton in-between!
I have a lot more pictures of all this I will have to post given how interested people are! I wish we had even more people that loved mine underground explores here!

Posted by Garrett Stopmotion While I did a bit of research and found some maps/ history enough to find the entrance relatively easily, [. . .]

Thanks for the detailed response, now I'm itching to head up to Colorado!

As far as the drains in Fort Worth... be sure to watch out for poison ivy! I was literally covered a day or two after my last drain trip. Lesson learned, lol.

_{Edit: snipped quote for brevity}

I’ve always found mines to be so cool to explore. Although I’ve never explored one myself I love seeing vids and photos about those who had. I know there are some down here I just live in the metropolitan area so they’ll have to be multiple day trips. The mine you found has a lot of cool machinery and the colors are just beautiful. Although I have a few questions if you wouldn’t mind.

1. What kind of equipment do you normally bring along with you when exploring mines?

2. How do you light up your photos so the subjects are able to be seen?

3. How did you find this mine?

Overall very cool find and amazing photos. Thanks in advance!

Really cool set ! We have some mines over here but they are, most of the time, flooded. Interested to see the other pictures !

Can't wait to go back to CO.

Posted by NerdyNord This is beyond cool. I don't think you can really find stuff like this over here on the east coast where I live, and I'm very jealous about it.

We do to an extent, just not as unique. We have found some cool things in the coal mines, but nothing compared to this. This area sure does know how to build mines.

Also, tbh I don’t know if I would go in without an air meter. Just because it seems fine, doesn’t mean it always is. God forbid you hit a section with low oxygen. Happened to us in a coal mine over here and we had to turn back.

Posted by lkr0204 I’ve always found mines to be so cool to explore. Although I’ve never explored one myself I love seeing vids and photos about those who had. I know there are some down here I just live in the metropolitan area so they’ll have to be multiple day trips. The mine you found has a lot of cool machinery and the colors are just beautiful. Although I have a few questions if you wouldn’t mind. 1. What kind of equipment do you normally bring along with you when exploring mines? 2. How do you light up your photos so the subjects are able to be seen? 3. How did you find this mine? Overall very cool find and amazing photos. Thanks in advance!

1. I do not normally explore mines alone, I have made friends with a local guide I met on here that has been doing this for over 15 years. The specific underground I have explored has been explored by him and others very very extensively to the point we know of many entrances and there is lots of airflow so there is very very little chance of running out of air, or collapse, and even if it did collapse there are high chances of finding a way out easily.

What I would bring is absolutely, a very decent gas meter that detects the main hazards. Without that I would never explore a random mine, and actually we know of entrance portals to many mines, that I will not explore til I get the proper equipment and a guide.( one vent shaft leads to a surface building and it sucks up air and just standing in the building is enough to possibly make you pass out at certain times). Besides monitoring air, I bring hella flashlights which is all I typically use to light these images. usually I go with a good friend or two and each of us bring a pack with food for the day, water and first aid kit, as well as backup lights and batteries. It is also worth mentioning that air behaves in certain ways, and there are mines that can be more or less likely to have bad air and a more familiar person would be able to spot these things earlier and know what we should look out for. We also typically have a lot of historical info and maps of these mines as my guide loves to do extensive research.
Not sure if anyone here is a scuba diver, but I would compare it to that, your first dives are always with a guide and usually until you know a location you always need a guide and knowledge of the best practice to avoid accidents.

2. Mentioned a little but yeah I do all my images with usually 1 or two flashlights a tripod and long exposure light painting. Some of the large rooms above were painted by directing two friends to shine lights in certain angles. It really is a team thing. Some of my best shots come from the collaboration of myself and 2 others that both lightpaint. We usually stop and brainstorm ideas about lighting and the subject then figure out exposure and sometimes a whole day of exploring will yield only 5 pictures of the quality above.

3. I did not exactly find it. I was let to the rough location by another user here, and after doing research I saw there was a supposed large underground area, and based on images I knew it still existed, and was pretty safe. so a friend and I went to the rough area and searched the site for entrances until we found one that was not bolted shut.

Posted by Rinzler We do to an extent, just not as unique. We have found some cool things in the coal mines, but nothing compared to this. This area sure does know how to build mines. Also, tbh I don’t know if I would go in without an air meter. Just because it seems fine, doesn’t mean it always is. God forbid you hit a section with low oxygen. Happened to us in a coal mine over here and we had to turn back.

Yall are crazy as hell to be doing coal mines. I would debate it but from what I have heard the danger is way way higher than anything we have here. I do agree about the meter though. I really want to get at least a $300 one when we begin to explore actual mines more.

Posted by entropy Really cool set ! We have some mines over here but they are, most of the time, flooded. Interested to see the other pictures ! Can't wait to go back to CO.

Hit me up when you are in town, we are always down for some explores! I would love to see more underground urbex community get revived. it seems it went kinda dead since 2003-2007.

Posted by Garrett Stopmotion Hit me up when you are in town, we are always down for some explores! I would love to see more underground urbex community get revived. it seems it went kinda dead since 2003-2007.

Sure thing ! I was at this mine two years ago, didn't had the chance to visit the underground. We were on a tight schedule. Will have to go back ! This summer it will be British Columbia. I want to see the mascot before they restore it.

I don't use the word "epic" very often, but this mine really is! I've been in a ton of mines both in the US and England, but have never seen anything like this! So much underground machinery, even underground ball mills! Wow.

Thanks for sharing!

Abby Normal

Posted by Garrett Stopmotion 1. I do not normally explore mines alone, I have made friends with a local guide I met on here that has been doing this for over 15 years. The specific underground I have explored has been explored by him and others very very extensively to the point we know of many entrances and there is lots of airflow so there is very very little chance of running out of air, or collapse, and even if it did collapse there are high chances of finding a way out easily. What I would bring is absolutely, a very decent gas meter that detects the main hazards. Without that I would never explore a random mine, and actually we know of entrance portals to many mines, that I will not explore til I get the proper equipment and a guide.( one vent shaft leads to a surface building and it sucks up air and just standing in the building is enough to possibly make you pass out at certain times). Besides monitoring air, I bring hella flashlights which is all I typically use to light these images. usually I go with a good friend or two and each of us bring a pack with food for the day, water and first aid kit, as well as backup lights and batteries. It is also worth mentioning that air behaves in certain ways, and there are mines that can be more or less likely to have bad air and a more familiar person would be able to spot these things earlier and know what we should look out for. We also typically have a lot of historical info and maps of these mines as my guide loves to do extensive research. Not sure if anyone here is a scuba diver, but I would compare it to that, your first dives are always with a guide and usually until you know a location you always need a guide and knowledge of the best practice to avoid accidents. 2. Mentioned a little but yeah I do all my images with usually 1 or two flashlights a tripod and long exposure light painting. Some of the large rooms above were painted by directing two friends to shine lights in certain angles. It really is a team thing. Some of my best shots come from the collaboration of myself and 2 others that both lightpaint. We usually stop and brainstorm ideas about lighting and the subject then figure out exposure and sometimes a whole day of exploring will yield only 5 pictures of the quality above. 3. I did not exactly find it. I was let to the rough location by another user here, and after doing research I saw there was a supposed large underground area, and based on images I knew it still existed, and was pretty safe. so a friend and I went to the rough area and searched the site for entrances until we found one that was not bolted shut.

I agree with the gas meter, which I'm unsure if it also measures oxygen level or detects hazardous gas but that'll be very useful. I feel bringing an oxygen tank just in case could come in handy. Sadly I don't know anyone who ventures into mines so I guess my adventures will have to wait for now. With that kind of lighting it seems like practice is needed. Thanks for the detailed response!

Beautiful pictures, and awesome comments. What a sweet spot. I tried to get into a mine while I was living in CO but there was literally a wooden board over the entrance that said "stay out, bad air". I ventured inside a little but it reeked, and the floor was covered in ice and I didn't have spikes on my shoes. I opted for exploring all the buildings and machinery outside instead.

Incredible stuff! As everyone else has said that’s one of the coolest mines I’ve seen.

This is one of the most incredible photo sets I've seen posted here in... possibly ever. I honestly can't choose a favorite photo because I love them all so much. Absolutely jaw dropping.

Dude I'd love to go in there wearing 3-D glasses.

What an excellent location and set of photos! Is that an... _underground_ ball mill in #17? Wow.

Posted by DrDeke What an excellent location and set of photos! Is that an... _underground_ ball mill in #17? Wow.

That's what I was thinking too! I've not seen underground ore processing before. I wonder if it was to process ore for assay work? Most mines have an assay lab running for the engineers and geologists to make certain that are on "pay dirt".

Great photos!

Abby