Rabbit Foot Mine Trail

Trail Overview

High up in the Salmon River Mountains is the Rabbit Foot Mine. After a short jaunt on a well-maintained grated road, there is a turn-off towards the Rabbit Foot Mine. It is not a well-traveled road and is not maintained. The further up the road you go, the more evident that becomes. The trail starts off going up a slight slope with a few rubber mat inserts into the trail to help watershed and prevent washout. As you progress up the road it has narrow spots where the trail is cut into the hillside but it does open back up. There are some mountain ponds full of frogs, with water that does run into the roadway causing some really soft, muddy crossings. Beaver dams in the creeks have diverted the water into the roadway in one place. It is slowly eroding one side of the trail making it an off-camber section. After this, the creek actually crosses the road with one side being slightly muddy and slippery. Towards the end of the trail, there is potential for fallen trees across the roadway that need to be cut and cleared. It is not recommended to try this trail prior to May due to its high elevation and the likelihood of running into snow.

Photos of Rabbit Foot Mine Trail

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Difficulty

There are a couple of difficult muddy sections, one is a soft, sticky mud hole and the others are muddy from standing water in the road. The creek runs directly through one portion of the trail and another has a diversion caused by some beaver dams but both are relatively easy water crossings. Some narrow portions of the road may cause some unease and fallen trees create some obstacles to drive over or that need to be cleared completely.

History

The discovery of the Rabbit Foot Mine dates back to 1872. Not a lot is known about this mine, however, what has been recorded states that it was predominantly underground, with a shaft that was about 170 feet below the surface and reached about 5000 feet long before its close. Gold was this mine's primary extraction but there was also some lead and silver pulled out as well. The Rabbit Foot was a smaller operation located about 5 miles East of the Singheiser Mine and about 15 miles southeast of the larger, better-known Yellowjacket Mine.

Technical Rating