Category: Trails

Bonnie Claire Nevada – A Nye County Ghost Town

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Located off highway 267 East of Death Valley National Park Gold, Bonnie Clarie Nevada is a mine site and ghost town that is easy to explore from the highway in Nye County, Nevada.   Bonnie Claire began life with a 5 stamp mill located in Thorp’s Well,  in the early 1880s.  The mill in Thorp’s Well processed ore for three active mines in the area for twenty years.  At this point, the mill was purchased by the Bonnie Clarie Bullfrog Mining Company to process materials from the Gold Mountain District.

Long Team in front of the Bonnie Claire Mine, Nevada
Long Team in front of the Bonnie Claire Mine, Nevada

In 1904 a second Mill, the Bonnie Claire mill, was built near the stage stop in Thorp which service travelers from Goldfield and Bullfrog and a post office followed in 1905.

The railroad reached the area in 1906 and the Bonnie Claire Nevada townsite was founded.   First a tent city house the population until 1907 when the first wooden structures were built which hosted 100 people and several saloons.  The location languished with the founding of Rhyolite to the south.  The town survived serveral years past it prime and served to ship building materials for Scotty’s Castle.

Bonnie Claire Trail Map

Blair Nevada – Esmeralda County Ghost Town

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Blair Nevada is a ghost town and mine site located in Esmerelda County.   The town site is located a few miles north of Silver Peak, Nevada and about 19 miles west of SR 95.   The town was founded in September of 1906 when speculators flourished and mill owners imposed harsh mill prices in the town of Silver Peark.  

The Pittsburgh Silver Peak Mining Company founded a site just a few miles north of Silver Peak which was then named Blair.  Blair boasted the a 100-stamp stamp mill which was the largest in Nevada at the time.

U.S. Geological Survey outfit enroute Blair to Silverpeak. Silver Peak quadrangle. Esmeralda County, Nevada. 1912.

November of 1906 saw the foundation of a town paper, business district, hotel, saloons and post office to serve a population on 700 people.  The Blair Press, the town newspaper operated from November, 1906 to July, 1909. The Silver Peak Post moved from Silver Peak and was renamed the Blair Booster. This paper only ran a short time, from March – July of 1907 before it failed.

Blair Nevada - 1909
Blair Nevada – 1909

Mining continued until 1915 when  low grade ore sealed the fate of the boom town.  When the mill was closed, it was dismantled and moved to California.

Town Summary

NameBlair Nevada
LocationEsmeralda County, Nevada
Latitude, Longitude37.7929865, -117.6492601
Elevation1407 meters / 4616 feet
GNIS855970
NewspaperThe Blair Press – November 1906 to July, 1909
Population700

Blair Nevada Trail Map

Nevada State Historic Marker Text

The Pittsburgh-Silver Peak Gold Mining Company bought the major mines in the area in 1906.  Land speculators at nearby Silver Peak bought up the land.  As a result, the mining company surveyed a new townsite north of Silver Peak and named it Blair.  The company built a 100-stamp mill in 1907.  The company also constructed the 17 ½ mile Silver Peak railroad from Blair Junction to the Tonopah & Goldfield main line.

By 1920, Blair was all but deserted.  The remnants of stone buildings and mill foundations are the only survivors of the once thriving, but short-lived, mining town.

STATE HISTORICAL MARKER No.  174
STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE
HAROLD C. HENDERSEN

Nevada State Historic Marker Summary

NameBlair
LocationEsmeralda County, Nevada
Nevada State Historic Marker174
Latitude, Longitude37.7811, -117.6345

Resources

Henry Wade Escape Route

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The Henry Wade Escape Route is an easy 4×4 trail suitable for almost any vehicle and connects highway 127 to Badwater Road. The route is usually dry and easily passable, however can be rough going in the wet. The spring wildflowers may offer amazing scenery for those who travel at this time.

Henry Wade Escape Route Monument located on Highway 127
Henry Wade Escape Route Monument located on Highway 127

Henry Wade like many men of his time, sought his fortune in California on the news of the gold discover which lead to a historic gold rush. In 1849, a group of about one hundred wagons, led by Jefferson Hunt entered Death Valley en route from Utah. The caravan was searching for a shortcut from the Old Spanish Trail to the booming gold rush of California. Soon discovered they were in real trouble, bogged down in the sane and heat of the Mojave. Several men died, which may have provided Death Valley with its name. Henry Wade led the expedition from Death Valley roughly along the trail which now bears his name and eventually found their way through Cajon Pass into Southern California. Although the exact route is debated, Henry Wade led is group out of Death Valley via the south entrance.

Harry Wade Exit Route – Some 100 wagons found themselves in Salt Lake City too late to cross the Sierra Nevada. They banded together under the name of Sand Walking Co. and started for the gold fields in California over the Old Spanish Trail. After being in Death Valley with the ill-fated 1849 caravan, Harry Wade found this exit route for his ox-drawn wagon, thereby saving his life and those of his wife and children. At this point the Wade party came upon the known Spanish Trail to Cajon Pass.

Highway Placard on Hgwy 127

Further Reading

Henry Wade Escape Route Trailmap

Fish Canyon Escape Trail

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William Lewis Manly (April 6, 1820 – February 5, 1903)
William Lewis Manly (April 6, 1820 – February 5, 1903)

The Fish Canyon Escape Trail is a route discovered by William Manly as an escape route from Death Valley in 1849.  The group tried to navigate the hot and dry Mojave desert with hand drawn maps, which supposedly showed short cuts across the desert. After being lost of months in the wilderness of Death Valley, William Manly and a group of emigrants headed to California. William Mandy set off and finally discovered a route out of Death Valley.  

William Many was like many man of the era. He made his living as a guide, fur hunter, farmer and later in life a writer. In 1849, he followed thousands of other young men and travelled to California to join the Gold Rush. He was 29 years old at the time.

Near Provo Utah he joined other travels to cross the great basin to Southern California. In December, the group became lost following the inaccurate maps which they brought with them. For three weeks they struggled in Death Valley. With food supplies depeleted. Manly and John Haney Rogers walked the Mojave for 250 miles, finally reaching Rancho San Fernando.

On his return with food and horses, he discovered that only two families, the Bennett and Arcane, survived his absence. This trail is part of his route.

The trail is mildly rocky and suitable for most SUV’s

Further Reading

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Bitter Springs

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Bitter Springs is a 28 miles back country road which connects I-15 to the North shore Road highway 167 located inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Echo Bay.  The trail takes you by old mining roads and washes throughout the Muddy Mountains.

To reach the trail head, head North on the I-15 from Las Vegas. Exit the Valley of Fire offramp (exit 75), and turn right towards the state park, Valley of Fire. There is a lot of excellent camping in Valley of Fire.

Unless you have a need for fireworks or booze, proceed past the Moapa Indian Reservation store. After three miles the paved road bends left. The trail is the dirt road heading straight into the dessert towards the mountains.

Once you hit the Muddy Mountains, you will be greeted with large red rock out cropping. Keep on eye out on the right side of the tail for a small damn and water hole. Should you visit at the correct time, you will see tadpoles and frogs in the water.

As you proceed into and through the muddy mountains, there are numerous places to stop and picnic or camp. There is a small quarry that sits on the trail, so be sure to travel carefully if there are workers.

Once you are through the pass, the trail gradually follows the alluvial fan into a drainage. Once in the drainage section, the trails turns into pure sand. Be sure to check the weather when travelling this portion of the trail and keep an eye open for Big Horn sheep and wild horses.

Bitter Springs Trail Map