Ironage and Snowflake Mines

Dev Harlan

Wonder Valley

At the far end of Wonder Valley past the Old Dale mining district in the Pinto Mountain foothills are two large inactive strip mines. In the early 1900’s iron ore deposits were found here and claims were filed. Large scale strip mining took place in the 30’s and in the 60’s. Both sites are now abandoned, but the ugly scarification of the land remains. Though small by strip mining standards, the scale of human impact here makes an impression.

The area is publicly accessible to anyone willing to risk the perilous roads to get there. It has been reported that Iron Age may reopen again to further extract ore from the large tailings, but as of 2018 nothing has changed. Access could be restricted at any time.

I was introduced to this site by some older folks who are familiar with the area and took me with them on an expedition to collect magnetite. Impressed with the large exposed road cuts and fractured surfaces found in the mine I returned to attempt to reproduce molds of the disturbed rock face. I spent five days traveling in and out of this site to complete the work.

Getting There

Be warned, these are unmaintained roads of the poorest condition. A good part is not road at all, just sandy wash. I had no phone service after about a mile from CA-62. You need a good 4WD vehicle and some combination of stupidity, bravery and common sense. I had a tire blow out by driving too fast with crappy tires over an obviously sharp and pointy rock! Luckily I was not alone on that occasion and we had a second car to drive out and get a new tire. Caravaning is definitely recommended. Drive slow and easy, enjoy the view… but keep your eyes on the road!

Snowflake Mine

Snowflake is the smaller of the two mines and the easiest to reach, just 4 mi. South of CA-62. To get there from 29 Palms take CA-62 East to the Iron Age Rd turnout. Pulling South on this road you will immediately find a fork. Take the left fork, you will see a clear road marker numbered JT-1953. On the right is a memorial bench dedicated to a local women who was murdered in 2016. After a mile of rough terrain and a sand pit you will find another fork. Take the right fork for another 2.5 mi and you will reach the entrance to Snowflake. There are large piles of tailings here, and a wide graded road that leads East. Park right near the rim to explore, the hike down is less than 5 minutes.

Iron ore in the form of magnetite is littered everywhere here. You can spot it easily by it’s rusty black color and noticeable weight. If in doubt try a magnet, it will stick! Also abundant is magnetite sand, which is fun. You can spot it as a darker sand atop flat or washy ground. Put a magnet to the sand and the grains will pull right up. There are also many rocks with thin quartz or calcite crystals growing on them like icing on cake.

Iron Age Mine

To continue to the larger Iron Age mine get on the wide graded road that leads East. It’s flat and straight for about a mile and then things get rough. You’ll abruptly be dumped into a sandy wash where you turn South into the mountain. The original Iron Age Rd. followed this wash and appears to have been built up from tailings and gravel. Most of this has been heavily eroded and is totally unusable. Early in you will find a bit of original road on the right that is driveable if you can get up on it. After ¼ mi you’re back in the wash for another 2 miles.

This washy route will overshoot the old mine entrance and allow you to circle back around on a better maintained road. After several twists and turns the wash becomes wide and flat again, heading straight south into the Pinto mountains. A maintained road will be visible immediately on your right, heading West. There is a marker here numbered JT-1959. It’s narrow at first, watch out for brush and thorns that will scrape your car. One last tricky turn and you will be up on solid ground, a hard packed gravel road that follows the back of the hills behind the mine. Follow JT-1956 about 1.5 mi. until you come to the junction of JT-1957. At this point facing North you will already see the huge piles of tailings from the Iron Age pit and the tops of the stripped mountain.

From here you can begin exploring right away by scrambling up the pile of tailings closest to the road. You’ll find lots of interesting old junk here that looks untouched since the 1960s. Tractor tires, cans, bottles, bottle caps, bullet shells, etc. My sister got really excited about a pile of old Pepsi bottle caps. I’m sure there is much more that we didn’t find. Many crystal encrusted rocks and other interesting minerals. If you walk across the flat top of tailings you’ll find the gated entrance to the mine.

If you wish to drive closer first take a right on JT-1957 and follow it as it curves down towards a small field below the tailings. You’ll see an old truck cab riddled with bullet holes. Park and hike up the dirt trail to the gated entrance, which is wide open. Down in the bottom of the mine you’ll find a rusted out Honda motorcycle still parked upright on its kickstand. Lower there’s the cab of what must have been a very large Good Year tire truck, the logo still partly visible on the door. Other than that it’s basically a big ugly hole in the ground, the benefit of which is access to (geologically) recently exposed rock. And of course there is magnetite rock and sand here of every shape and size.

To Return:

There are multiple roads in and out of this area, and a slightly faster way to make the trip if you are not visiting Snowflake Mine. Return the way you came on JT-1956 and through the sandy wash until you return to the junction that leads to Snowflake (The wide graded road). Continue in the sand until you come to a fork. Left twill take you the long way out on the original Iron Age Rd. Right is a shorter route, rocky and sandy, but less perilous than where you have been. It will shave 1.5 mi off your trip and terminates at CA-62 with a stop sign of all things! Naturally you can also come in this way directly if you wish to go straight to Iron Age Mine.