Ghost Town: Indian Springs, Tooele County, Utah

cruiseroutfit

Moderator & Supporting Member
Supporter
Site: Indian Springs
Alternate Names: Good Indian Springs, OK Mine
County, State: Tooele County, Utah
Years of Occupation: Late 1890's-1940's
Status of Site: Open, private property
Classification: Class 2 - Neglected Town
Type: Mining
Remnants: Several standing building and several fallen
GPS Coordinate:
39.982933° N, 112.728752° W
Date of Last Visit: Jan 12, 2018

This small mining camp rests at the northern end of the Simpson Mountains. As the name implies, springs exist near the townsite providing a year round water source. It's rumored this canyon was once part of the Overland Stage Route, which simply wouldn't make much sense as Simpson Springs to the north was a far more direct route and also had know water. Mining in the 1890's brought miners and merchants to the canyon. Town is said to have consisted of several boarding houses, a store and a saloon in addition to several private cabins and mines. The largest producing mine in the area was the OK Mine, a silver mine part of the Erickson Mining District. Other mines include the Keystone-Brooklyn Mine, Indian Cheif & Silver Reef Mine.

IMG_4882.jpg


Further Reading:
http://geology.byu.edu/Home/sites/default/files/research_studies_vol_5_no_4.pdf
https://westernmininghistory.com/mine_detail/10055155/
https://westernmininghistory.com/mine_detail/10088995/
http://thetrekplanner.com/ok-minecave/
http://mtnmad.com/raul-canyon-indian-springs-utah/
http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Place-Called-Indian-Springs---Tooele-County,-Utah&id=74126
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache...ure?guid=9b8c5bb1-19fa-440e-b4a4-1accb5eb596b

Directions to Get There:
Coming soon

IMG_4883.jpg

Silver Reef Mine workings map (~1957)
 
Last edited:

cruiseroutfit

Moderator & Supporting Member
Supporter
Something massive is now happening in this old canyon. At current the ghost town is undisturbed but just below the old two track'ish road has been dozed and widened to 14+ feet wide. While we were there this weekend a D8 and grader were working the road up, building large flats and cutting the road all the way up to the old mines. The equipment operators were vague or didn't really know the plans but I suspect core drilling or future development plans on the mining claims.

I'm pretty sure the road up and over is a valid county road claim (will verify) which means the can't close that but they certainly can do much other improvements on their patented land.
 

cruiseroutfit

Moderator & Supporting Member
Supporter
Any bets?


Not related to Indian Springs. Sadly I know those two structures and the two elderly gentlemen that live in them. That was actually the reason I was out there last week was visiting them and bringing supplies with a group of friends :(

They are okay, I'm hoping they got out with their vehicles but at least they got out for sure. I may Buzz out there tonight or tomorrow and see if I can help them salvage anything that's left or give them a ride to town.
 

Kevin B.

EU Contributor
Not related to Indian Springs. Sadly I know those two structures and the two elderly gentlemen that live in them. That was actually the reason I was out there last week was visiting them and bringing supplies with a group of friends :(

They are okay, I'm hoping they got out with their vehicles but at least they got out for sure. I may Buzz out there tonight or tomorrow and see if I can help them salvage anything that's left or give them a ride to town.

Well that's good and bad news. Thanks for the update.

If they're in need I'd happily chip into a fund or whatever.
 
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