Six of us visited the not-so-famous Santana Mine.  Mine Lake gets its name from it, since the mine overlooks the lake.  Or it would if the trees weren’t so high.  So we set out in a thick fog to visit it.  Thanks to Ellen and Alex for their permission to use their driveway and cross their private property.  There are other routes to the mine.  We made a loop, coming back down on Conville Point Road.  The other approach is from Bold Point.

The recent snow overload damaged trees and bushes, so this was a bit of a bushwhack.  Also, there was still snow covering parts of the path, so it was even easier to get lost than normal. The sun made a feeble attempt to show itself at the high “viewpoint” where we had lunch, but no view.  The mine is very interesting.  The main drift (tunnel) still has the old railroad tracks and is safely walkable.  The wildlife is abundant: long legged spiders, crickets, and a few moths.  We also visited the short opening a bit higher up, and peeked into a long drift a bit further north.  The entrance to that one is very low and the floor is flooded.  The route on to Conville Point Road had a few more deadfall obstacles, but the road had a very nice display of larches in full fall colour.  5.1 km; 3 hours.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Hiking – Santana Mine – 16 Nov 2022