Santiago Mine

Santiago Mine is a nearly 100-year-old site that contains one of the best-preserved mines in the area. The mine was opened in 1935 and many of its features remain in remarkable condition today. The USFS was able to get the site declared historical in 2013. Prior to that, it had been for sale for a cool $33,000,000. After the Forest Service turned it into a historical site, they announced temporary closure and clean up of the site. While that information has been hard to come by through official sources, this is the last update from the Forest Service was the closure announcement in 2015. At that time, the Forest Service indicated that the site may be preserved further and turned into an official historical site that people can visit without causing damage to the site. Though information has been hard to come by officially, this is what we know about the restoration process at the mine from sources on the ground and the contractor's website. Lead and other dangerous mineral remediation was completed in the summer of 2016. This summer they are working on filling in the soil, directing water runoff, and revegetation. How and when the work will be complete is unknown at this time. Trailsoffroad has not been able to find out if there are official plans for this site once the cleanup was done. We will be keeping a close eye on the progress and in touch with Clear Creek County about the progress and plans for this site and report them here. This trail is still worth running out and back. The views of the valley are great, you can even see the snow-crushed remains of a pickup truck and the over 100-year-old telephone lines that carried some of the first intercontinental phone calls. At its peak, this phone lines carried a whole six telephone lines. Enjoy the trail and do not trespass at the mine but feel free to admire it from afar.