Exploring Abandoned Mines Museum

In early July of the summer of ’23, my son and I set forth on a nine-day camping adventure through British Columbia. In addition to the tent camping (our family typically camps in a travel trailer) and obligatory father-son bonding, our road trip had three goals: panning for gold, discovering fossils, and exploring abandoned mines.

The gold panning proved wonderfully successful. It was our first visit to the panning reserve along the Tranquille River near Kamloops. Not only were we rewarded with visible gold, but we found our first nugget! Let me correct that. I found our first nugget. A minor distinction, perhaps, but one not without contention in our household.

Our fossil hunt proved equally rewarding as we hit a small motherlode of Eocene aged plant fossils in a sizable roadcut west of Princeton. The prized find was an unblemished ginkgo dissecta. My son found it; a fact unquestioned by me.

With such a triumphant start to our trip, we were feeling pretty confident as we made our way into the Slocan Valley to hunt down abandoned mines. A hotbed of silver-lead mining and prospecting in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries, this beautiful valley in the Selkirk Mountains is home to many ghost towns and abandoned mines.

With internet research and guidebooks in hand, we ventured along winding, narrowing, cross-ditched forestry service roads, in search of several documented abandoned mines. Our Pathfinder lived up to its name, if begrudgingly at times. That name, it should be noted, is not MINEfinder.

There were mines we could simply not reach; some jobs are best done by quad or foot. Others no longer seem to exist nor did the described access roads and bridges to them. Regrowth, fire, and time all take their toll on old, abandoned mines. There were even mine ruins visible from the highway that we attempted to hike to but could never find from the trail.

Disheartened, we settled for snooping around Sandon (tourist “ghost town”) and its neighbouring Cody mine ruins (basically one structure). Enjoyable, sure, but hard to consider a success when these places have highway signage guiding tourists towards them.

That disappointing finish to our 2023 trip set me on a mission when it came time to plan our 2024 trip. My son desperately wanted to get to a real abandoned mine, and I was hellbent on making that happen.

I was already vaguely familiar with the famed Mascot Gold Mine in Hedly. You can see its many buildings on the mountainside as you pass through town. They used to offer tours but haven’t for several years due to safety concerns. I reasoned that surely, with all the abandoned mines in BC, there must be other mine tours available.

This sound reasoning led to my discovery of two facts. One, there is a surprising dearth of mine tours in BC, or anywhere, for that matter. Safety and lawyers, I guess. And two, there is, thankfully, at least one other mine tour that is still operating.

Exploring Abandoned Mines Museum

View from parking lot

Located just west of the southern BC town of Grand Forks, and aptly named Exploring Abandoned Mines Museum, this privately run mining museum and mine tour was the perfect balm to our abandoned mine itch.

The operation is the brainchild of couple Sharon and Frank and it’s a true labour of love. This ain’t no government-inspired Hail Mary to draw tourists to some forgotten backwater fallen on hard times. It’s a hobby on steroids, built from scratch by two people with a true passion.

And they are the real deal! Check out their Instagram page and YouTube channel. Exploring Abandoned Mines isn’t just a simple catchphrase for branding purposes, it’s literally what they do. It’s really quite wild. The impediments we encountered pushing the limits of our comfort zone whilst scouring the hillsides of Slocan Valley are laughable compared to the quests these two go on.

Thankfully, they’re building an accessible alternative for those of us with a desire for geological adventure but harbouring less-daring personalities.

The Exploring Abandoned Mines Museum is located at Frank and Sharon’s home. Found in the hills on Hardy Mountain Road, roughly three kilometres north of Highway 3, the property is easy to get to. Online maps and GPS systems have no trouble finding it and directing you there and road signage is adequate. This isn’t a mysterious trek into the backwoods of nowhere.

The final leg into the property is gravel and steep with a couple switchbacks but most commonly owned vehicles can get there without trouble. Their homestead is to the right and the museum, parking, and mine entrance are to the left.

The Museum

Photo courtesy of Exploring Abandoned Mines Museum

The museum itself consists of two parts. There is an outdoor area with assorted old mining machinery and equipment they’ve collected over the years. And there is an indoor portion, housed in a newly constructed wood structure. Inside are numerous mining relics and rock samples on display.

As part of your tour, Frank takes you around the museum explaining the various pieces of machinery. He even starts up an old generator powering a mining drill for a short demonstration of how holes were drilled into rock for placing dynamite. It’s loud, but interesting.

When we were there, they were nearly finished constructing a gravity tram next to the museum building. This combination of new and old, replicated and salvaged gives visitors unique insight into the life at old mines. Better than ruins on the forest floor or relics on benign shelving, imho.

As a geologist, I was particularly keen on the rock samples they’ve collected from their various adventures. By no means an exhibit hall display of crystals and minerals, the collection nonetheless gives a fine overview of the ores these miners and prospectors were chasing across the province. Toss in some cool miner’s gear and a nifty old flatbed truck and you’ve got a great little, still growing, museum. There’s even Exploring Abandoned Mines merchandise available to purchase.

The Mine Tour

Photo courtesy of Exploring Abandoned Mines Museum

The big draw, however, is the mine tour. A short walk south of the museum is the entrance to the abandoned Yankee Boy Gold Mine (also referred to as Yankee Girl in some online sources). The mine had a spotty history of production. Development occurred as far back as 1905 according to BC MINFILE records. Shipments of ore to the smelter in Trail were recorded in 1926, 1930, 1934, and 1936. That final year a total of 389 tons was shipped yielding gold (460 oz) and silver (382 oz).

Two tours are offered. The Main Underground Yankee Boy Mine Tour which runs three times daily throughout the summer travel season. This tour lasts approximately 45 minutes and is suitable for all ages. It’s the easier tour.

Not wanting to betray weakness, I chose the Advanced Underground Yankee Boy Mine Tour for my sone and I. It’s the harder tour. Lasting approximately 1 ½ hours, and only available to those 13 years of age and older, it won’t be suitable for everyone.

The Exploring Abandoned Mines website forewarns participants that the advanced tour requires good physical conditioning and the ability to climb ladders and stairs with an elevation gain of 200 feet. And those ladders and stairs are not like those at Home Hardware or in your house. It’s all rough, wooden, handmade mining structures haphazardly emplaced throughout a one-hundred-year-old mine.

I’m not exactly a poster boy for physical fitness. While not obese, I’d readily admit my peak passed decades ago. I survived the advanced tour, but there were a couple climbs that had me a bit short of breath and needing a moment to rest. This isn’t meant to scare anyone away from the tour, just confirming that the warnings/restrictions are in place for a reason.

Proper, closed footwear is necessary. I’d personally recommend hiking boots. It’s a mine, folks. There’s dirt, rock, and rough wood everywhere. You’d be wise to leave your Air Jordans at home.

Similarly, wear appropriate clothing. Summers in southern BC can get mighty warm, but inside the mine the temperatures remain stubbornly cool (~ 9 degrees Celsius according to the official website). Yes, it’s a welcome relief on a hot day but over the course of the hour-and-a-half advanced tour you’re going to get cold in your mesh crop top and vintage gym shorts.

The tour itself is well worth the effort. And the money. Although Frank and Sharon are continually reopening and rebuilding portions of the former mine, much of it remains as it was left in 1936.  Evidence of past activities in various stages of decay can be found all over the place providing a fascinating glimpse into the past.

Ropes and wooden ladders provide access to nooks and crannies throughout the mine, but they are rustic, even when new, retaining a sense of hardness and danger. The experience will keep you a bit on edge and appreciative of what these miners endured to make a living. It’s hard not to look around and think “who the hell would do this?”

All the while, Frank is narrating the tour sharing information about the mine and mining in the old boom days. I’m sure he’s given these tours hundreds of times, but the stories he tells sound authentic and properly unpolished. It’s the perfect mix of not-university-professor and not-tourist-attraction-guide, if that makes any sense.

Mine Photography

The only problem with this mine tour, and with all such tours, mine, cave, or otherwise, is that taking pictures is horrible. Lighting is terrible, space is often confined, orientation loses all meaning in two-dimensions. The entire time you’re in the mine you’re taking pictures because this is so cool, and that is so cool, and oh boy so-and-so is going to love seeing this. Then you get home and look at all your optical documentation and most of it sucks.

The only solution to this predicament, obviously, is to go to Grand Forks and take the tour yourself. It really is the only way to appreciate the chilling splendour of an old, abandoned mine. Safer, too. Without being too safe.

I wholeheartedly recommend Exploring Abandoned Mines Museum in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada. If you can handle the Advanced Tour, I’d recommend you do it. It’s a great experience for anyone with an interest in geology and mining history but lacking the chutzpah to go hardcore mine exploring on your own. If not, I’m sure the main tour is equally as engaging.

Frank and Sharon are wonderful and friendly hosts and guides. I admire their dedication to this passion of theirs and I hope it continues to survive and grow for years to come. There’s no doubt I intend to go back some day and see all the new additions to their museum and mine.

I loved it. My son loved it. And I’m pretty sure my vehicle loved it now that all future pathfinding missions will be strictly of the paved variety.

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