Ruth Mine Level 5
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Hikes including this location:
- Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
- Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
- Latitude, Longitude: 44.8532, -122.1902
- Elevation: 2345 feet
Description
The lowest adit of the Ruth #1 Claim is just above the steep cliffs of the Battle Ax Creek gorge and can be reached via the track of the old tram road from Jawbone Flats and the Poor Boy Mill.
Near the portal here, there are tram tracks, rusting pieces of equipment, gasoline drums, ore cars, piping, and a large, manmade cavern which may have served as shelter for machinery or a garage. An almost sheer cliff drops down to the creek and the last building standing here, an old shed, has now gone. Hazardous waste was removed from the area in 1997. The adit here is blocked by a bat gate. It goes in about 1,700 feet.
The Ruth Mines were prospected originally as the Lewis & Clark Mines at the beginning of the 20th century, but it was not until the mid-1930s that Amalgamated Mines excavated with earnest. Most mining here was abandoned by the 1950s although some prospecting continued to the 1980s. Ruths 4 and 5 were connected by two 180-foot raises (vertical shafts).
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Contributors
- bobcat (creator)