Well I had researched this location as best I could before heading out there. I understood that the road to the mine was 4WD only. I figured I would drive as far as I could in my car and walk the rest of the way to the mine. I put together a supply pack with food, water, camera, sunscreen, jacket, cell phone, and some maps I had printed out.

I followed the Beeline Highway to the correct turnoff, went down the hill to the gravel road (FR201) and took that to FR25. I went down this bumpy dirt road for several miles and found the trailhead, FR25A. From here I hiked in about 6 miles to the mine site. I should point out that I am not an experienced hiker, and it is always a good idea to bring lots of water and supplies and hike with a friend or two. It is much safer this way and more interesting, unless you like long lonely hikes.

The trail is in the bottom of a narrow canyon, carved out by Sycamore Creek. The creek was not flowing on my trip so that was kind of disappointing. The road was easy to follow though and I saw many interesting rock formations and lots of old mining junk in the creek bed. There was lots of dust along the trail and I could really feel my heart pumping as I hiked. The canyon got pretty narrow at some points and the sun would disappear for good portions of the trail. I was glad I brought a jacket!

Some people in a Jeep passed me on the trail, I would later see them up at the mine site. There were a few smaller mines on the way up but I didn't stop to explore them as they looked pretty unsafe. When I made it to the top of the hill I took a nice photo of Saddle Mountain. From there I continued on to the wooden processing area of the mine. I saw the ore chute on the hill and took some pictures.

Down at the main site there was a large, rusty furnace and a spiderweb of metal pipes going every which way. There was a big round pipe, maybe three or four feet in diamater, that was operated by a system of gears. It was covered by a thin metal roof, which made a nice spot to take a rest out of the sun. The rest of the site had some other neat things like an old bathtub and wooden table, an overturned truck, and some giant metal tanks that were sunk into the ground.

I was pretty tired by this point and did not go any farther. So I never located the main mine entrance and I never continued on to the Story Mine. That leaves me something to do next trip! I HIGHLY recommend a Jeep or other 4WD vehicle with lots of ground clearance. Hiking all the way up there and back was a tiresome ordeal and wasted a lot of time.