The Lucy Grey Goldmine trail is a short 4×4 trip out of Primm, Nevada up to an old mine site. The route is fairly accessible and almost any SUV or 4×4, but the route finding can be tricky is you are not careful. A slight mistake in navigation and you will be in some rough country. To find the trail head, exit and head past the outlet stores and the Lotto Store. The trail head is the dirt road where the paved road turns left.
The trail heads straight out into the desert. When you reach the railroad tracks, turn right and follow the road next to tracks until you reach a railroad signal station. There is a pass through under the train track and a nice little sign which reads Lucy Grey to let you know you are on your way.
From the railroad signal station the trail heads up an alluvial fan into the hills. Once you reach the gully and head into the hills, the trail becomes hard to follow, so pay attention to GPS coordinates, or your map. The trek is mostly easy with one or two small sections that will require you to pay a little more attention. The most difficult part of this trail is the route finding up to the mine and town site.
Just prior to reaching the mine itself, there is a cool old house which is nice to check out. About 1/4 mile further and there is a large truck which marks the road up to the mine. The road is mostly washed out and very steep, but well worth the hike up to the mine.
The Lucy Grey goldmine was started in either 1905 or 1913 and founded by T.L. Bright. Part of the Sunset or Lyons mining district the location appears have been operating into the 1960s. The Lucy Grey appears to have produced Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver and Zinc.
Sometime between January, 2010 and October, 2011 the mine openings were covered with heavy gauge steel grates and much damage was done to the structure at the mine site itself.
I last visited this mine as a kid in 1988 with my dad and grandpa. My great-grandfather, Kenneth Bright started this mine with his 2 brothers, Thatcher Lee Bright and another brother I can’t remember his name. I have photos of the 3 brothers hauling a load of ore out of the mine behind a team of horses, guns ready. Also some photos of the structures when they were newly built and a photo of my grandpa as a baby at the mine around 1913. Cool story of how the mine site was discovered :Thatcher Lee was prospecting and stopped to eat lunch and he set down his lunch tin. Shortly after he kicked away some ants that had congregated around the food. His boot displaced the dirt and uncovered whatever type of mineral evidence that he was looking for. That began the story of the mine. The mine was sold to someone else who brought in the truck and left some of the junk. A lot has changed, we drove to the mine in my Grandpa’s RV but I’m sure the road has gotten worse since then. I’d love to go back someday.