Best trails to see Joshua Tree’s old mines

The ruins of the Ruby Lee Well and Mill site await in Joshua Tree National
Park's Pinto Basin.

Joshua Tree National Park’s rugged mountains vibrate with a rich history of mining. From the 1800s to the Great Depression in what is now the park, there were 300 mines, though few were profitable. The ruins of several of those mines and their abandoned machinery dot the park.

While hiking to these sites is fine, never enter any of the mines and do not touch rusted metal or other artifacts.

Among the best trails for discovering those ruins are:
• Contact Mine Trail – The short 3.9-miles round trip heads 700 feet up an old mountain road to a mountainside mine with rusting machinery. The trailhead leaves from Park Boulevard south of the Twentynine Palms entrance station.
• Desert Queen Mine Trail – Gold ore was pulled from mine shafts at the Desert Queen Mine until 1961. Equipment and shafts used in the operation sit at the site, reached via the 4.9-miles round trip hike that starts at the Pine City Trailhead where the Desert Queen Mine and the Queen Valley roads meet.
• Lost Horse Mine Trail – The best-preserved of the park’s mines and mills is Lost Horse Mine, which produced about $5 million in gold and silver between during the early 1900s. The trailhead for the 4-miles round trip hike is off of Lost Horse Mine Road, a branch of Keys View Road. If you’d like to see the unsuccessful Optimist Mine, where only a stone chimney remains, continue on the Lost Horse Mine Loop, which runs 6.5 miles.
• Lucky Boy Vista Trail – This easy 2.5-mile round trip trail gains 125 feet elevation on its way to an old mine and the overlook at it. The trailhead is off of Desert Queen Mine Road north of Park Boulevard.
• Mastodon Peak Trail – A 3-mile loop climbs 375 feet almost to the top of the granite peak then past an old gold mine. The trail leaves from the Cottonwood Springs parking area near Pinto Basin Road; some maps refer to it as the Mastodon Mine Loop Trail.
• Moortens Mill Trail – The 1.2-mile round trip trail heads up 154 feet to the Moortens Mill Site. It branches off the Mastodon Peak Trail. It recently washed out and as of this writing remains closed pending repair.
• Porcupine Wash-Ruby Lee Mill Site Trail – The ruins of a well and mill site sit along the northern leg of this 8.8-mile loop at the base of the Hexie Mountains. Pickup the trail from the parking area on Pinto Basin Road.
• Silver Bell Mine Trail – Two wooden structures and a few artifacts remain at the filled-in entries to Silver Bell Mine on this 1.3-mile round trip trail. The trialhead is at a pullout on Pinto Basin Road; look for the “Exhibit Ahead” sign at the northwest end of Pinto Basin.
• Wall Street Mill Trail – A well-preserved mill used to refine mined gold sits at the end of this 2.4-miles round trip trail off of Queen Valley Road, which connects to Park Boulevard. It was used during the early 1930s during a second gold rush at Joshua Tree.