Found An Abandoned Mine While Hiking In Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
- GPS: N 36°42.6558' W 111°46.8202'
Today we spent the day exploring Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.
Highway 89A is the only paved road through the monument and there are multiple pull-offs along the road. Some are for historical sites, but most are just so you can snap some pics of the amazing landscape.
There are a couple though, that provide access to hiking in the area so we randomly picked one and were not disappointed.
We hooked up the cat and dog and started trekking across the desert to the base of the Vermilion Cliffs.
The trail goes through the cliffs and up, up, up. It’s a bit of a climb to the top of the trail, but nothing too incredibly strenuous. If your an avid hiker it won’t be a problem.
The trail, while not well defined, is still pretty easy to follow.
Even if you do lose your way just turn around and start heading back down. The road is in view most of the way (even if it does look like it’s miles away) so it’s hard to get lost.
After passing the remains of an old truck we continued our climb upwards.
The views the entire time you are hiking are incredible. You can see for miles and miles off into the distance and the cliffs tower around you. Coming around one bend on the trail we noticed a sign further up and headed toward it.
To our surprise it was an abandoned mine.
Some rusted scrap metal and machine parts littered the ground around it. The shaft has a locked gate covering it so you can’t fall in. I’m assuming it was also put in place to keep more adventurous types from trying to climb down. Not sure how far down it goes, but you can see the bottom.
Right beside the mine we were greeted with another surprise which I’m gonna call a mini slot canyon. It’s not at all, but that’s what I’m sticking with lol.
Anyways you are able to walk between the cliff walls for a little bit before it dead ends. It doesn’t go back very far, but the walls encase you on both sides and it’s pretty cool. We took a little break at the dead end. Everyone had some snacks and we let Everest out of his backpack to explore some before heading back to the truck.
After getting back to Frankenstein the Pop-Up Camper I did some research.
This hike is actually called the Sun Valley Mine Trail and it is a 2.4 mile out and back trail. It didn’t seem that long, but it did take us an hour and forty minutes to hike it. We stopped a lot to take pics, climb rocks and just enjoy the scenery.
The slot canyon and flat desert section also provided us with an opportunity to let Everest walk on his leash. He did such a good job and is getting so much better. Maybe he can start training the dog!?!
I’m so glad we did this hike and highly recommend it. It’s a fun way to experience the area and it’s just a cool all around hike.
I added the GPS coordinates above for the exact location of the wooden gate to start at.
Your photos are fantastic. Love reading of your adventures.
Thank-You!