RonnieAdventure #0082 - Anniversary Mine and Narrows, Clark County, Nevada

Anniversary Narrows is a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon if you like to see spectacular geological creations, which is one of the reasons that it is a popular place for geology student field trips. If you visit the Narrows on a weekend, you are undoubtedly going to see other people.

Many of the local guide books list this destination as a six-mile hike, but over the past few years the once four-wheel-drive trail has been improved to the extent that it can now be negotiated with a two-wheel-drive vehicle; thus, greatly reducing the hiking distance. The dirt road passes over several parcels of private land, so drivers need to respect the private property owner’s rights and stay on the road when driving to the Narrows.

After passing the Ore Cart Mine, which is now owned by the local Gem and Mineral Club, the road drops into the wash where the Anniversary Mine is located. It is only recently that the road into the wash was improved, so historically most people parked on the ridge overlooking the wash and used this location as the unofficial trailhead. Even though it is now possible to drive all the way to the Narrows, it makes a more enjoyable trip to park at the old historic unofficial trailhead to start the hike.  

As you progress up the wash, you first come to the Borax (Colemanite) Anniversary Mine, which is privately owned and should not be disturbed. Although vandals burned down the ore loading chutes a number of years ago, you can still see some of the timbers and the two tunnels that were constructed to move ore carts from the mines to the ore chutes. Several of the mine entrances in this area have been closed, but there are still a number of open tunnels that are very dangerous and should not be entered.

The hike from the mine to the Narrows is less than a mile farther up the wash. As you travel up the wash, there are signs of historic mining activity along the hillsides, and several open tunnels. A short distance from one mine entrance is an excavated room that was used for the storage of blasting materials.

When you enter the Narrows, the wall become very close together and in some places you can reach out and touch both walls. The canyon walls are so high that only occasionally does direct sunlight reach the canyon floor. Because you typically cannot see direct sunlight while in the Narrows, the reflective sunlight illuminates the canyon walls differently throughout the day and at different times of the year, so you never get tired of taking pictures. The only problem was trying to figure out which pictures to include in this blog!