MINERAL POINT

NAME: Mineral Point
COUNTY: San Juan
ROADS: 4WD
GRID: 1
CLIMATE: Impassable winter snow
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Summer
COMMENTS: The topo maps show a road passing through Mineral Point, connecting between the road to Engineer Pass from Silverton (Animas Forks) and the road to the Pass from Ouray. This road has been blocked off. You can get to the Mineral Point site from the Animas Forks side; take the fist left trail after heading north out of Animas Forks. There is a mine onyour left and further down another trail off to the left. Stay right till the trail ends. At the road end, there is a mine with some equipment on the left up hill and two partial cabins on beyond. The area beyond theroad end has become very swampy. Careful, hiking to the cabins is through the swamp. HOWEVER, near the other end of the Mineral Point road from the Ouray side, there is a large collapsed mining structure and a nearby nice two-story building. The mining structure includes an ore crusher which is exposed in the debris and a few wooden tanks off the end. You can also get to this point by going on beyond the Animas Forks side turnoff to MP. Stay left when you get to the trail leading up to Engineer Pass. You can see the ruins at a point above just before the road goes down a hairpin. The access road is at the bottom of the hairpin. After visiting here, be aware that of the four Alpine Looproads, the one from Ouray is by far the worst. OK for SUVs but very slowgoing in several strectches.
REMAINS: 2 delapidated cabins and one mine at main site. Collapsed mine structure and nice 2-story house toward ouray from the main site.

Mineral Point was founded in 1873 by Charles McIntyre and Abe Burrows.The name derived from a quartz formatio which runs for several miles and along which many gold camps were located. To attract interested parties, brochures were printed depicting steam ships plying theAnimas River between Mineral point and downriver Animas Forks. If you've been to the area, you know what a "challenge" that would have been. Ore was shipped to either Silverton, Lake City or Ouray--no doubt using one of the roads now known as the Alpine Loop. Mining activity began to fall off in the 1880's and the city died in the early 90's. Ref.: Perry Eberhart, "Guide to the Clorado Ghost Towns and MiningCamps", 1969, 4th ed. revised, Swallow Press, Athens OH (best Colorado ghost town book I've seen.--HF) Submitted by: Harold Frodge


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - view from the forest service restroom area- July 2000
Todd Underwood


Flywheel cam and pushrods at the San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Cam and pushrods at the San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Flywheel at the San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Wooden holding tanks at the San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Twin boilers at the San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Road from Ouray - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Road from Ouray - July 2000
Todd Underwood

 

 


Mine next to townsite - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Cabin at Townsite - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Oyama mine a few hundred yards from townsite - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Cable Spool at Oyama - July 2000
Todd Underwood


Actual townsite of Mineral Point -July 2000
Todd Underwood


London Mine on the Animas Forks side of the road to Mineral Point - July 2000
Todd Underwood


London Mine on the Animas Forks side of the road to Mineral Point - July 2000
Todd Underwood


London Mine on the Animas Forks side of the road to Mineral Point - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood


San Juan Chief Mill - about 1000 yards North of the townsite of Mineral Point on the Road from Ouray side - July 2000
Todd Underwood

 

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