Overview

Garnet Mine and Camp is located out at the far south end of Gold Butte National Monument near the boundary with Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The miners probably were looking for gold and silver in these Precambrian granites, but they appear to have been unsuccessful.

Garnet Mine Camp is an area along Garnet Road where miners lived for a short time. They left some old bed springs, lots of rusty cans, and one small stone wall, but anything of value was removed years ago.

On the steep hillside above Garnet Mine Camp, Garnet Mine is a collection of prospects and one shaft that is about 15-ft deep, just deep enough to need a ladder to get in and out.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about driving in the desert, ... this is a pretty safe area, but stay out of holes in the ground, as they are never safe to enter. Access to this area requires 4WD vehicles that can withstand some desert pin-striping.

This is wild and remote country without services of any kind (no restrooms, no water, no gas, no food). Bring what you need to survive. Be prepared and be self-reliant. It is a big place, but someone will eventually find you if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two, or even longer on side roads. Consider signaling the tourist helicopters that traverse the area coming and going from the Grand Canyon.

While out, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Getting to Garnet Mine Camp

Garnet Mine Camp is located out in Gold Butte National Monument at the northeast end of Lake Mead, about 5 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From town, drive out to Gold Butte and then south the paved Gold Butte Road for 21 miles to Whitney Pocket. Continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road for 20 miles to Gold Butte Townsite. Continue south on Scanlon Road for 9.8 miles to Garnet Valley Road, on the right.

Turn right onto Garnet Valley Road and drive south 3.5 miles to near the head of Garnet Valley; watch for a house-sized, stand-alone boulder on the left side of the road. Park here in the roadway; this is the mine camp. Park in the roadway to avoid disturbing soils on this historic site.

A bit farther down the road (300 yards), a saddle with nice views north and south through Garnet Valley provides a good place to turn around.