Gold dredge campground2/13/2024 It was quiet at night and even had a pit toilet and stream across the road. We were also close enough to Stanley for me to run in and get some essentials while Sarah mountain biked. The view from Lower Stanley always takes my breath away. We decided to visit the Yankee Gold Dredge on our second day. The gold dredge was about 5 miles from our camp ground. The road wasn’t paved but was in very good shape and our Subaru made it up there with no problem. It was active during the middle of the last century and destroyed a large portion of the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River valley. There are tailings from the mining operation for about 6 miles. It mostly looks like large piles of rocks on either side of the road.Ī gold dredge works by floating in a self-made pond and working its way up a river. It digs deep in the group in front of it, processing the material and spitting it out the back as tailings. The Yankee Fork Gold Dredge dug about 35 feet into the ground and required about 11 feet of water to float. The machine itself was pretty impressive and you can tour it in the summer. The entire machine was anchored to the river bed with a large spike and would swoop back and forth churning up the ground as it went. Once it had completed a swing, it would move up the river. The entire gold dredge was powered by large diesel engines that powered numerous electrical motors found throughout the rig. The entire purpose of the gold dredge was to find gold within the material it was churning and sifting. There were large gold sluice boxes where the material would collect and then be sold to the US government. Only the manager of the dredge had access to the gold sluice room. Overall, I would totally recommend the gold dredge tour. The Bonanza Ghost town is actually before the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge when heading north.
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