Hiking up Pine Valley Creek

After a recent walk up Miners Road, I was curious to continue heading up, following Pine Valley Creek north. On one topographic map, I also so an old gold mine marked out, making me quite curious. Today, I hiked up on the road and beyond for a total of 6.6 miles and about 1750ft of elevation gain.

IMG_3787The gold mine was remarkably easy to find, actually. There was a side road, with a closed gate (one of two), which led directly up to the mine. I didn’t spend too much time, as it was clearly locked with video surveillance. Nonetheless, it was really cool.

Shortly after that, however, the road came to a dead end. There was still some pretty good use trail leading further up the gorge, however, so I continued onward.

I eventually ended up at one stream crossing, where the use trail really seemed to end completely. There wasn’t much more to see from there, either, so I opted to turn back.

It’s a wonderful hike! Here’s the gallery: